Ficus religiosa

Ficus religiosa

The poplar - fig ( Ficus religiosa), also Buddha tree, Bodhi tree, Bobaum or Pepul, Pepal, Pipul or Peepalbaum, called in India also Aswattha or Pippala tree belongs to the family of the mulberry family ( Moraceae ). It is a fast -growing tree with aerial roots, which can grow up to 30 m high. The very soft compared to other Ficus species leaves have Träufelspitzen and are in the posture as a houseplant unusually susceptible to infestation with spider mites. The home of poplar fig is India and Sri Lanka.

The Bodhi tree in Buddhism

According to the Buddhist tradition, Siddhartha Gautama lived under a poplar fig sitting the "awakening" (Sanskrit: bodhi, often inaccurate with "enlightenment" translated) and thus became the Buddha ( " awakened one "). The poplar fig has since been used in Buddhist art as a symbol of the Buddha. Often it is represented in reliefs and paintings of Buddhist temples.

In the Indian Bodhgaya, the former Uruvela, next to the Mahabodhi Temple is an alleged descendant of the original Bodhi tree under which the Buddha had attained Bodhi. Can be considered historically proven that a branch of the original tree during Emperor Ashoka's mission in the 3rd century BC came to Sri Lanka. The resulting grown tree, the Sri Mahabodhi in the former royal capital of Anuradhapura, is still an important place of pilgrimage for Buddhists. After the original Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya had been precipitated by a Shivaite rulers, were planted in its place later an offshoot of Anuradhapura. To this it should be at the now standing in Bodhgaya tree.

In the temple architecture of Sri Lanka, it became customary to build specially Bodhi Gara called open building to a living Bodhi tree, which must also each be an offshoot of Anuradhapura ( thus an offshoot only 2nd order from the original Bodhi tree ). Even in temples in Southeast Asia, for example, the Wats in Thailand, is usually found at least a Bodhi tree, which is the focus of rites for Vesakh hard during the full moon in April or May.

A bodhi tree in the vicinity of Sri Mahabodhi in Anuradhapura

Bodhi tree in typical enclosure