Plant
Bodhi tree
Ficus religiosa
Also known as: Ficus religiosa, peepal tree, ashvattha
A large semi-evergreen fig tree in the family Moraceae, native to the Indian subcontinent — one of the most heavily sacred trees in any human tradition. The historical Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment under a bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya, India ~2,500 years ago; the lineal descendants of that tree (the Mahabodhi at Bodh Gaya, and the Sri Maha Bodhi at Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka, planted from a cutting in the 3rd century BCE and continuously cared for since) are among the oldest documented continuously-living trees on Earth. Also sacred in Hindu and Jain traditions; the *ashvattha* of the Bhagavad Gita is this species.
Scientific
Ficus religiosa is in Moraceae (the fig family — same family as [[fig]], [[mulberry]], [[breadfruit]], [[jackfruit]]). The tree is distinguished by heart-shaped leaves with a long pointed tail (the drip-tip characteristic of monsoon-climate trees) and by its small purple-black figs.
Like all figs, F. religiosa is pollinated by a species-specific wasp — in this case Blastophaga quadraticeps. The wasp can only reproduce inside this fig species, and the fig species cannot set fertile seed without this wasp.
Religious significance
The historical Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) is recorded as having meditated for 49 days under a Ficus religiosa at Bodh Gaya, in present-day Bihar, India, before attaining enlightenment ~2,500 years ago. That specific tree is the Bodhi Tree — the name itself means “tree of awakening” (bodhi = awakening, enlightenment in Sanskrit).
The current Mahabodhi tree at Bodh Gaya is a descendant of the original (the original was destroyed and regrown several times over the past two millennia). The Sri Maha Bodhi at Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka — planted in 288 BCE from a cutting of the original Bodh Gaya tree taken by the Buddhist nun Sanghamitta — is one of the oldest documented continuously-living planted trees on Earth, continuously tended for over 2,300 years.
In Hindu tradition, the species is the ashvattha — referenced extensively in the [[bhagavad-gita|Bhagavad Gita]] and [[the-upanishads|the Upanishads]]. In Jainism the species is similarly sacred. The cross-religious veneration of F. religiosa is virtually unique among single tree species in any human cultural complex.
Cultural practices
The tree is planted at temples across South and Southeast Asia. Many specific old bodhi trees at specific temples are objects of pilgrimage; some are decorated with offerings, ribbons, and prayer flags. Cutting down a bodhi tree is considered a serious religious transgression in much of South Asia.
See also
Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.
- Shares approach with: [[mulberry]] · [[breadfruit]] · [[jackfruit]]
- Member of: [[plants]]
- Cousin of: [[fig]]
Sources
- Wikipedia — Ficus religiosa
- Mahabodhi Temple records
A plant entry in the 0mn1.one [[directory]].
What links here, and how
Inbound connections from across the wiki, grouped by lens and by relationship. These appear automatically — every entity page declares what it links to, and that data populates here on the targets.
Scientific
cousin of
- Fig auto-linked via shared tag: sacred-plant
General
shares approach with
- Sacred lotus auto-linked via shared tag: buddhist
- Sandalwood auto-linked via shared tag: india
3 inbound links · 5 outbound