Piplantri is a village in Rajsamand district, in the Indian state of Rajasthan, where residents plant 111 trees every time a girl is born. The custom began in 2006, when the village head, Shyam Sundar Paliwal, lost his young daughter Kiran and the community planted trees in her memory. Alongside the trees, villagers and parents put money into a savings deposit for the baby, and parents promise to educate her and not to marry her off before the legal age. Over the years the plantings have turned once-barren grazing land into woodland of more than 300,000 trees.
Piplantri
Women of Piplantri at a village gathering. Local women have been closely involved in the tradition, from planting to caring for the trees.
Why a birth is marked with 111 trees
India has long recorded fewer girls than boys among young children, a gap linked to a preference for sons, the cost of dowries and, in some places, sex-selective abortion. Rajasthan has been among the states where the imbalance is most visible. Against that background, a public celebration for every daughter sends a clear message: a girl is welcome, and the whole village has a stake in her future.
The number 111 is widely regarded as auspicious in India, and planting that many saplings turns each birth into a shared community event. The trees also bring practical benefits to a dry region: shade, fruit, timber and soil that holds water.
As a female child is born, the village gathers to plant 111 trees.
Piplantri
Village women hold potted saplings ready for planting. The trees go onto the village’s shared grazing land rather than private plots.
How the tradition began
Paliwal was the village’s sarpanch, or elected head, when his daughter Kiran died in 2006. He later told The Better India that, while he was grieving, villagers planted a tree in her honour. Moved by the gesture, he proposed that day that the village plant 111 trees for every girl born there from then on.
The idea also fitted the village’s practical needs. Piplantri was short of water and much of its land was barren, so replanting the commons was a way to restore the landscape as well as to honour daughters. When the story spread internationally in 2015, reports already spoke of about a quarter of a million trees.
Piplantri
Women perform a small ceremony at a young tree, carrying offerings on a plate. Grandmothers and aunts of newborn girls have been encouraged to help look after the trees.
The savings deposit and the parents’ promise
The trees are only part of the custom. When a girl is born, villagers together contribute about 21,000 rupees and the parents add about 10,000 rupees. The combined 31,000 rupees, worth a few hundred US dollars at mid-2010s exchange rates, goes into a fixed deposit in the girl’s name.
Reports differ slightly on the term: many news stories from the 2010s described a 20-year deposit, while other accounts say the money becomes available once she turns 18. Either way, the aim is the same: to give the girl financial security at the age when she might continue her education, start work, or marry.
Parents also sign a written undertaking, described in different sources as an affidavit or contract. They commit to:
- sending their daughter to school and supporting her education;
- not arranging her marriage before the legal minimum age (18 for women in India);
- looking after the trees planted in her name.
Piplantri
A planting held as a tribute, with a garlanded portrait and a sign beside the new sapling. In Piplantri, trees mark remembrance as well as birth, as the custom itself began in memory of a daughter.
Keeping the trees alive
Planting is the easy part; survival in a semi-arid climate is harder. Piplantri treats the trees as a long-term responsibility. Species include neem, sheesham (Indian rosewood), mango, amla, banyan and peepal, chosen because they suit the region and provide fruit, timber or shade.
Piplantri
Girls of the village stand among the trees of a grown-up plantation. Because each set of saplings is linked to a particular girl, families have a personal reason to keep them alive.
To protect the saplings from termites, villagers planted aloe vera around them. The scale is striking: more than 2.5 million aloe plants, according to Wikipedia’s summary of the project. The bitter plants help keep pests away and need little water.
Piplantri
Villagers plant aloe vera around the trees. The aloe acts as a natural barrier against termites, one reason so many saplings have survived.
What the village has gained
The aloe turned out to be more than a pest barrier. The community began processing it into products such as juice and gel, creating local work, much of it for women. That income helps people stay in the village instead of moving to cities, something Paliwal has said he wants to encourage.
Piplantri
Aloe juice and other products sold under the Piplantri name. Processing the aloe has created local jobs, many of them for women.
The environmental effects have also been noticeable. Wikipedia reports that groundwater levels have risen and wildlife has returned. In a December 2022 interview, Paliwal described the once-barren land as a “Nandan Van”, a forest of happiness, and said the village had about 351,000 trees.
Piplantri
Green hills and a small reservoir near the village. Trees help the soil hold rainwater, and Wikipedia reports that groundwater levels have risen.
Villagers have also told reporters that crime is rare and that police cases had all but disappeared for years. That claim is widely repeated but hard to verify independently, so it is best read as the community’s own account.
Paliwal’s work has been recognised nationally: he received the Padma Shri, one of India’s highest civilian honours, in 2021.
What other communities can learn
- Tie a symbol to real support. The trees are memorable, but the deposit and the education promise are what change a girl’s prospects.
- Make care a shared job. Trees planted on common land, looked after by everyone, survive better than a ceremony followed by neglect.
- Design for the local landscape. Native species and low-water companions like aloe suit a dry climate far better than imported ideas.
- Keep the focus on the girls. The environmental results are impressive, but the tradition began as a way to welcome daughters, and they remain the point.
Piplantri
A small building surrounded by greenery in Piplantri. The plantings continue with each new birth, adding to a woodland that has grown with the village’s daughters.
Piplantri’s practice belongs to one village and should not be read as proof that every community shares its attitudes. It does show what a small place can do when grief, local leadership and practical planning come together. For another community trying to build daily life around shared ideals, see our article on Auroville: Community Ideals and Everyday Organization.
Sources: Wikipedia: Piplantri; The Better India, December 2022: Shyam Sundar Paliwal and Piplantri’s trees. Photos: Piplantri village. Early coverage via True Activist and Folomojo (2015).
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