Sri Maha Bodhi

Site where Sri Maha Bodhi is

The Sri Maha Bodhi is a Sacred Fig tree in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. The site where it's on, Sacred City of Anuradhapura, is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. ^[1]

It is said to be a tree grown from a sapling from the famous Bodhi tree where the first Buddha became enlightened. It brought down by Mihindu (Mahinda) and Sanghamitta. It was planted in 288 BC. It is the oldest living human-planted tree in the world with a known planting date. ^[2]

It was planted on a high terrace about 6.5 m (21.3 ft) above the ground. It is surrounded by railings to protect it. It is one of the most sacred objects of the Buddhists in Sri Lanka, and respected by Buddhists all over the world.

Its wall was built during the reign of King Kirthi Sri Rajasingha, to protect it from wild elephants which might have attacked the tree.

History

In the 3rd century BC, the Buddha's fig tree was brought to Sri Lanka by Sangamitta, daughter of Emperor Asoka and founder of an order of Buddhist nuns, in Sri Lanka.

In 280 BC, Jaya Siri Maha Bodhi was planted in the Mahamevnāwa Park in Anuradhapura by King Devanampiya Tissa.

Sri Maha Bodhi Media

The Mahabodhi Tree at the Sri Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya
The Diamond throne or Vajrashila, where the Buddha sat under the Bodhi Tree in Bodh Gaya
1810 picture of a small temple beneath the Bodhi tree, Bodh Gaya.
The Mahabodhi tree at Bodhgaya in 2015.
Illustration of the temple built by Asoka at Bodh-Gaya around the Bodhi tree. Sculpture of the Satavahana period at Sanchi, 1st century CE.
Bodhi Tree Marking
Ashoka's Mahabodhi Temple and Diamond throne in Bodh Gaya, built circa 250 BCE. The inscription between the Chaitya arches reads: "Bhagavato Sakamunino/ bodho" i.e. "The building round the Bodhi tree of the Holy Sakamuni (Shakyamuni)". Bharhut frieze (circa 100 BCE).
Sapling of the Maha bodhi tree planted in the year 1950 at Theosophical society