Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi is a historical sacred bo tree in the Mahamewuna Garden in historical city of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. This is believed to be a tree grown from a cutting of the southern branch from the historical sacred bo tree, Sri Maha Bodhi, which was destroyed during the time of Emperor Ashoka the Great, at Buddha Gaya in India, under which Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) attained Enlightenment. The Buddhist nun Sangamitta Maha Theri, a daughter of Indian Emperor Ashoka, in 236 BC, brought the tree cutting to Sri Lanka during the reign of Sinhalese King Devanampiya Tissa.[1] At more than 2,300 years old, it is the oldest living human-planted tree in the world with a known planting date. The Mahavamsa, or the great chronicle of the Sinhalese, provides an elaborate account of the establishment of the Jaya Siri Maha Bodhi on the Island and the subsequent development of the site as a major Buddhist pilgrimage site.
Sacred Bodhi before c. 1913 and in the recent past.
A wall Painting the Aluth Vihara Ge or the New Image House at Kelaniya Temple, Sri Lanka. Sangamitta Maha Theri bringing the sapling of the Sri Maha Bodhi to Sri Lanka. Wall painting by Solias Mendis. The murals are those of the 18th century and the early 20th century.
A Photo taken from the Lower Compound, Pahatha Maluwa
Buddha Śākyamuni. Dolomite marble. Height: 3.3 meters. Late Anurādhapura Period, circa 6th century. Śrī Mahā Bodhi Shrine at the Mahāvihāra complex at Anurādhapura. (Photo: Captain J. R. Hogg, 1895).
Ficus religiosa or sacred fig is a species of fig native to the Indian subcontinent and Indochina that belongs to Moraceae, the fig or mulberry family. It is also known as the bodhi tree, peepul tree, peepal tree, pipala tree or ashvattha tree. The sacred fig is considered to have a religious significance in four major religions that originated on the Indian subcontinent: Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. Hindu and Jain ascetics consider the species to be sacred and often meditate under it. Gautama Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment under a tree of this species. The sacred fig is the state tree of the Indian states of Odisha, Bihar and Haryana.
Ficus religiosa
Nature printed leaf, showing shape and venation
Flooded Ficus religiosa trunk in the muddy water of the Mekong, in Laos.
A young tree growing on a concrete wall in Delhi. It is tolerant to wide variety of soils, and hence it even thrives on concrete walls having little moisture.
