Jadav "Molai" Payeng is an environmental activist and forestry worker from Majuli, popularly known as the Forest Man of India. Over the course of several decades, he has planted and tended trees on a sandbar of the river Brahmaputra turning it into a forest reserve. The forest, called Molai forest after him, is located near Kokilamukh of Jorhat, Assam, India and encompasses an area of about 1,360 acres / 550 hectares. In 2015, he was honoured with Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India. He was born in the indigenous Mising tribe of Assam.
Jadav Payeng receiving Padma Shri award from President Pranab Mukherjee
An illustration of Jadav Payeng, from the biographical children's book Jadav and the Tree-Place by Vinayak Varma
MÄjuli or Majuli is a large river island located in Assam, India. It is formed by the Brahmaputra River to the south and east, the Subansiri River to the west and an anabranch of the Brahmaputra River called Kherkutia Xuti to the North.
Image: Doriya River of Majuli
Image: Sky lamps at Sri Sri Auniati Satra, Majuli
Image: Majuli The largest river island
Image: Majuli Island