On the tithee of Tritiya during Pitru Paksha 2026, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan observed the shraddha of his late mother with a gesture both personal and public — planting a sapling in her memory and calling on every Indian to do the same for their ancestors.

In his post on Tuesday, 29 September, Chouhan wrote: 'Our culture and existence is because of our ancestors. Pitru Paksha is an opportunity to venerate our forebears as we would the divine. Today, on Tritiya tithi, it is the shraddha day of my late mother — I planted a sapling in her sacred memory. May our revered mother's blessings remain with us and may we continue on the righteous path.'

He ended with a direct appeal: 'I request you all that during Shraddha Paksha, as we reverently remember our ancestors, we must plant at least one sapling in their memory. Just like our forebears, the cool shade of a tree's blessings always stays with us.'

Pitru Paksha — sixteen days of remembrance

Pitru Paksha is a 16-day Hindu lunar fortnight dedicated to ancestor veneration through shraddha rituals — offerings of water, sesame, and food made to the departed. Observed in the Krishna Paksha of the month of Bhadrapada, it is among Hinduism's most widely practised ancestral rites, drawing participation from millions of Hindu families across India and the diaspora. Each of the sixteen days corresponds to a specific tithi on which families observe shraddha for relatives who died on that same lunar day.

A sapling as memorial — blending grief with growth

Chouhan's choice of a tree-planting as an act of remembrance draws on a layered cultural metaphor: the ancestor who gave you shade in life, and the tree whose canopy shelters those who come after. It is an image that resonates deeply in rural India, where banyan and peepal trees planted by ancestors are still standing landmarks on family land.

The appeal also carries an implicit environmental undertone. India's afforestation targets under various national programmes depend heavily on community participation, and faith-linked nudges — tying ecological action to deeply personal moments like shraddha — have historically seen strong local uptake. Whether this call translates into a measurable planting movement during Shraddha Paksha 2026 is worth watching.

As a four-term former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and now a Union Cabinet minister overseeing agriculture and rural development, Chouhan has long cultivated a public identity rooted in cultural and agricultural themes. The sapling, here, is not just a memorial — it is a message.