founder’s story

Sunita Dhairyam (Jayapathy) has always had a deep love for nature and wildlife. Her wildlife artist grandmother and wildlife photographer aunt were major influences as were her early travels. Sunita spent a couple of years in Zambia, studied in India, and lived in the United States of America, before setting up her current home in Bandipur, at the edge of its Tiger Reserve. At the time, Bandipur was also home to Veerappan, the infamous sandalwood bandit. Despite family concerns, Sunita bought the land purely for her love of wildlife and the view of the Nilgiris. It was a small one room village house with no electricity, no telephone and an underground sump for water. The dream was to be a wildlife artist. During her early years in Bandipur, Sunita was commissioned to do wildlife murals for the forest department and the government owned Jungle Lodges & Resorts Ltd. In 2000, Sunita supported a free clinic on her land, bringing to her attention formidable challenges of local populations facing ever rising human-wildlife conflict. Livestock kills led to poisoned carcasses and loss of big cat predators. Sunita set up the Mariamma Charitable trust in 2007, and Temple Tree Designs soon after, with sales of personally designed clothing and home décor to supplement MCT’s funds supporting the cause of reducing human-wildlife conflict. 
Today, Sunita is a well-renowned national and international wildlife artist, speaker, entrepreneur, and activist, continuing her tireless efforts from her beloved home in the Bandipur Tiger Reserve.