Bodhi tree (ficus religiosa); the fig tree under which Siddhārtha Gautama, the historical Buddha, attained complete enlightenment.
In Bodh-gayā there is still today, located on the left side of the Mahābodhi Temple, a “grandchild” of the tree under which Siddhārtha meditated for forty-nine days. The original tree was destroyed in the 7th century by the Bengali king Shashanka; its offshoot fell victim to a storm in 1876. The tree venerated today is a scion of a sprout of the original tree, a sprout that Ashoka had the king of Ceylon bring to his country in the 3rd century B.C.E. and that still stands today in the capital city of those times, Anurādhapura.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Bodhi tree documents
Books on Bodhi tree
External links