The Bodhi Tree at the Sri Mahabodhi Temple. Propagated from the
Sri Maha Bodhi, which in turn is propagated from the original Bodhi Tree at this location.
The
Bodhi Tree, also known as
Bo (from the
Sinhalese Bo), was a large and very old
Sacred Fig tree (
Ficus religiosa) located in
Bodh Gaya (about from
Patna in the
Indian state of
Bihar), under which
Siddhartha Gautama, the spiritual teacher and founder of
Buddhism later known as Gautama Buddha, achieved enlightenment, or
Bodhi. In religious iconography, the Bodhi tree is recognizable by its heart-shaped leaves, which are usually prominently displayed.
It takes 100 - 3,000 years for a bodhi tree to fully grow.
The
term "Bodhi tree" is also widely applied to currently existing trees, particularly the Sacred Fig growing at the
Mahabodhi Temple, which is allegedly a direct descendant of the original specimen. This tree is a frequent destination for
pilgrims, being the most important of the four main
Buddhist pilgrimage sites. Other holy Bodhi trees which have a great significance in the history of Buddhism are the
Anandabodhi tree in
Sravasti and the Bodhi tree in
Anuradhapura,
Sri Lanka. Both are believed to have been propagated from the original Bodhi tree.
In Buddhist chronology
The Bodhi tree at the
Mahabodhi Temple is called the
Sri Maha Bodhi. According to
Buddhist texts the Buddha, after his Enlightenment, spent a whole week in front of the tree, standing with unblinking eyes, gazing at it with gratitude. A shrine was later erected on the spot where he stood, and was called the
Animisalocana cetiya.
A small temple beneath the
Bodhi tree,
Bodh Gaya, built in 7th century, after the original built by King
Ashoka in 3rd century BCE, ca. 1810
The spot was used as a shrine even in the lifetime of the Buddha. King
Asoka was most diligent in paying homage to the Bodhi tree, and held a festival every year in its honour in the month of
Kattika.
[Mahavamsa, chap. 17, 17. http://lakdiva.org/mahavamsa/chap017.html] His queen,
Tissarakkhā was jealous of the Tree, and three years after she became queen (i.e., in the nineteenth year of Asoka's reign), she caused the tree to be killed by means of mandu thorns. The tree, however, grew again, and a great monastery was attached to the Bodhimanda called the Bodhimanda Vihara. Among those present at the foundation of the
Mahā Thūpa are mentioned thirty thousand monks from the Bodhimanda Vihara, led by Cittagutta.
To Jetavana, Sravasti
Buddhist tradition recounts that while the Buddha was yet alive, in order that people might make their offerings in the name of the Buddha when he was away on pilgrimage, he sanctioned the planting of a seed from the Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya in front of the gateway of
Jetavana Monastery near
Sravasti. For this purpose
Moggallana took a fruit from the tree as it dropped from its stalk, before it reached the ground. It was planted in a golden jar by
Anathapindika with great pomp and ceremony. A sapling immediately sprouted forth, fifty cubits high, and in order to consecrate it the Buddha spent one night under it, rapt in meditation. This tree, because it was planted under the direction of Ananda, came to be known as the
Ananda Bodhi.
To Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka
According to the Mahavamsa, the
Sri Maha Bodhi in
Sri Lanka was planted in
288 BC, making it the oldest verified specimen of any
angiosperm. In this year (the twelfth year of King
Asoka's reign) the right branch of the Bodhi tree was brought by Sanghamittā to Anurādhapura and placed by
Devānāmpiyatissa in the Mahāmeghavana. The Buddha, on his death bed, had resolved five things, one being that the branch which should be taken to Ceylon should detach itself. From Gayā, the branch was taken to
Pātaliputta, thence to
Tāmalittī, where it was placed in a ship and taken to Jambukola, across the sea; finally it arrived at
Anuradhapura, staying on the way at
Tivakka. Those who assisted the king at the ceremony of the planting of the Tree were the nobles of Kājaragāma and of Candanagāma and of Tivakka.
The trees of Previous Buddhas
According to the Mahavamsa, branches from the Bodhi trees of all the Buddhas born during this
kalpa were planted in Ceylon on the spot where the sacred Bodhi tree stands today in Anurādhapura. The branch of Kakusandha's tree was brought by a nun called Rucānandā, Konagamana's by Kantakānandā (or Kanakadattā), and Kassapa's by Sudhammā.
See also
