Bodhi Tree: Difference between revisions

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-{{For|the tree species more generally|Ficus religiosa}}
+#REDIRECT [[Bodhi tree]]
-{{short description|Sacred fig tree & origin site of Buddhism}}
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-<noinclude>{{User:RMCD bot/subject notice|1=The Bodhi tree|2=Talk:Bodhi Tree#Requested move 8 June 2021}}
+{{R from other capitalisation}}
-</noinclude>[[File:Bodhgaya 3639641913 f4c5f73689 t.jpg|thumb|The Mahabodhi Tree at the Sri [[Mahabodhi Temple]] in Bodh Gaya]]
+{{R from move}}
-[[File:Buddha Meditating Under the Bodhi Tree, 800 C.E.jpg|thumb|Sculpture of the Buddha meditating under the Mahabodhi tree]]
+}}
-[[File:Bodhgaya 3640455476 ece9eaf386 t.jpg|thumb|The [[Diamond throne]] or ''Vajrashila'', where the Buddha sat under the Bodhi Tree in Bodh Gaya]]
-{{coord|24|41|45.29|N|84|59|29.29|E|display=title}}
-The '''Bodhi Tree''' ("tree of awakening"<ref name="gethin">{{cite book|last=Gethin|first=Rupert|author-link=Rupert Gethin|title=The Foundations of Buddhism|url=https://archive.org/details/foundationsofbud00rupe|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/foundationsofbud00rupe/page/22 22]|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=1998|isbn=9780192892232}}</ref>), also called the '''Bodhi Fig Tree''' or '''Bo Tree''',<ref>{{Cite web|title=Buddhism Fast Facts|url=https://www.cnn.com/2013/11/11/world/buddhism-fast-facts/index.html|access-date=2019-10-14|website=CNN}}</ref> was a large and ancient sacred fig tree (''[[Ficus religiosa]]''<ref name="gethin"/><ref>Simon Gardner, Pindar Sidisunthorn and Lai Ee May, 2011. Heritage Trees of Penang. Penang: Areca Books. {{ISBN|978-967-57190-6-6}}</ref>) located in [[Bodh Gaya]], [[Bihar]], [[India]].  [[Siddhartha Gautama]], the spiritual teacher who became known as [[the Buddha]], is said to have attained enlightenment or ''[[Bodhi]]'' circa 500 BCE under it.<ref name=Madan>{{cite book|title=India through the ages|url=https://archive.org/details/indiathroughages00mada|last=Gopal|first=Madan|year= 1990| page= [https://archive.org/details/indiathroughages00mada/page/176 176]|editor=K.S. Gautam|publisher=Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India}}</ref> In religious [[iconography]], the Bodhi Tree is recognizable by its heart-shaped leaves, which are usually prominently displayed.<!-- The root word "Bodh" means knowledge and enlightenment.  --><ref> For more on the topic see also the chapter “Buddha, Buddhism, and the bodhi tree” in “Belief, Bounty, and Beauty” by Albertina Nugteren.
-DOI:https://doi.org/10.1163/9789047415619_004 </ref>
-The proper term "Bodhi Tree" is also applied to existing sacred fig (''[[Ficus religiosa]]'') trees, also known as bodhi trees.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ficus religiosa - Plant Finder|url=http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=d409|access-date=2020-12-08|website=www.missouribotanicalgarden.org}}</ref> The foremost example of an existing tree is the [[Mahabodhi_Temple#Mahabodhi_Tree|Mahabodhi Tree]] growing at the [[Mahabodhi Temple]] in [[Bodh Gaya]], which is often cited as a direct descendant of the original tree. This tree, planted around 250 BCE, is a frequent destination for [[pilgrim]]s, being the most important of the four main [[Buddhist pilgrimage]] sites.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Botanic Notables: The Bodhi Tree - Garden Design|url=https://www.gardendesign.com/plants/notables/bodhi-tree.html|access-date=2020-12-08|website=GardenDesign.com}}</ref>
-Other holy bodhi trees with great significance in the history of Buddhism are the [[Jetavana#Discovery_and_current_situation|Anandabodhi Tree]] at [[Jetavana]] in [[Sravasti]] in North India and the [[Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi|Sri Maha Bodhi Tree]] in [[Anuradhapura]], [[Sri Lanka]]. Both are also believed to have been propagated from the original Bodhi Tree.
-==Celebrations==
-===Bodhi Day===
-On December 8, [[Bodhi Day]] celebrates Buddha's enlightenment underneath the Bodhi Tree. Those who follow the [[Dharma (Buddhism)|Dharma]]{{Dubious |reason=ALL who follow the Dharma? |date=January 2019}} greet each other by saying, "Budu saranai!" which translates to "may the peace of the Buddha be yours."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://westproxy.lib.hawaii.edu:2051/hottopics/lnacademic/?verb=sr&csi=235865&sr=BYLINE(David)%2Bw%2F3%2BSelf)%2BAND%2BHLEAD(Dates+for+assembly)%2BAND%2BDATE%2BIS%2B2005-12-2|title= University of Hawaii}}{{dead link|date=January 2019}}</ref> It is also generally seen as a religious holiday, much like Christmas in the Christian west, in which special meals are served, especially cookies shaped like hearts (referencing the heart-shaped leaves of the Bodhi) and a meal of [[Kheer]], the Buddha's first meal ending his six-year [[asceticism]].<ref name=prasoon07>{{cite book |last1=Prasoon|first1=Shrikant |title=Knowing Buddha : [life and teachings] |date=2007 |publisher=Hindoology Books|location=[Delhi] |isbn=9788122309638 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Us9wbjmvXfgC&pg=PT32}}</ref>
-== Bodhi Puja ==
-Bodhi Puja, meaning "the veneration of Bodhi-tree" is the ritual to worship the Bodhi tree and the deity residing on it (Pali: rukkhadevata; Sanskrit; vrikshadevata). It is done by giving various offerings such as food, water, milk, lamps, incense, etc. and chanting the verses of glory of Bodhi tree in Pali. The most common verse is:<blockquote>''"Ime ete mahabodhi lokanathena pujita''
-''ahampi te namassami bodhi raja namatthu te."''</blockquote>
-==Origin and descendants==
-<!--"Buddhist devotion#Symbols" links here. If this section should ever be renamed or removed, please adjust the corresponding wikilink. Thank you.-->
-===Bodh Gaya===
-[[File:A small temple beneath the Bodhi tree, Bodh Gaya, c. 1810.jpg|left|thumb|1810 picture of a small temple beneath the [[Bodhi tree]], [[Bodh Gaya]].<ref>[http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/addorimss/a/019addor0003269u00000000.html A small Hindu temple beneath a banyan tree, Bodhgaya] British Library.</ref>]]
-[[File:Maha Bodhi tree 2.jpg|thumb|The Mahabodhi tree in Bodhgaya today]]
-[[File:Pipal tree temple of Bodh Gaya depicted in Sanchi Stupa 1 Eastern Gateway.jpg|thumb|Illustration of the temple built by [[Asoka]] at Bodh-Gaya around the Bodhi tree. Sculpture of the [[Satavahana]] period at [[Sanchi]], 1st century CE.]]
-{{main|Mahabodhi Temple}}
-The Bodhi tree at the [[Mahabodhi Temple]] is called the Sri Maha Bodhi. [[Gautama Buddha]] attained [[bodhi|enlightenment]] (''bodhi'') while meditating underneath a ''Ficus religiosa''. According to [[Buddhist texts]], the Buddha meditated without moving from his seat for seven weeks (49 days) under this tree. A shrine called Animisalocana cetiya, was later erected on the spot where he sat.<ref>[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=x8ObMQ1GGsUC&pg=PA320&lpg=PA320&dq=%22Animisalocana+cetiya%22&source=bl&ots=8i311YfLBl&sig=Eo56tcr6GdZbzqFzP9EfME76-HU&hl=en&ei=PNGQTb2YHYiIhQej6vC7Dg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CEoQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=%22Animisalocana%20cetiya%22&f=false Animisalocana cetiya]</ref>
-The spot was used as a shrine even in the lifetime of the Buddha. Emperor [[Ashoka|Ashoka the Great]] was most diligent in paying homage to the Bodhi tree, and held a festival every year in its honour in the month of [[Kartika (month)|Kattika]].<ref name="Mahavamsa">{{cite web|publisher=Mahavamsa, chap. 17, 17.|url= http://lakdiva.org/mahavamsa/chap017.html|title= CHAPTER XVII_The Arrival Of The Relics
-}}</ref> His queen, [[Tissarakkha|Tissarakkhā]], was jealous of the Tree, and three years after she became queen (i.e., in the nineteenth year of Asoka's reign), she caused the tree to be killed by means of mandu thorns.<ref>{{cite web|publisher= Mahavamsa, chap. 20, 4f.|url= http://lakdiva.org/mahavamsa/chap020.html|title=CHAPTER XX_The Nibbana Of The Thera}}</ref> The tree, however, grew again, and a great monastery was attached to the Bodhimanda called the Bodhimanda Vihara. Among those present at the foundation of the [[Maha Thupa|Mahā Thūpa]] are mentioned thirty thousand monks from the Bodhimanda Vihara, led by Cittagutta.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Mahavamsa, chap. 29, 41.|url= http://lakdiva.org/mahavamsa/chap029.html|title=CHAPTER XXIX_The Beginning Of The Great Thupa}}</ref>
-The tree was again cut down by King [[Pushyamitra Shunga]] in the 2nd century BC, and by King [[Shashanka]] in 600 AD. In the 7th century AD, Chinese traveler [[Xuanzang]] wrote of the tree in detail.
-[[File:Bodhi Tree Marking - panoramio.jpg|left|thumb|Bodhi Tree sign, 2013]]
-Every time the tree was destroyed, a new tree was planted in the same place.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Melton|last1= J. Gordon|first2= Baumann|last2=Martin|year=2010|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v2yiyLLOj88C|title=Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices|edition=Second|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]], Santa Barbara|isbn=978-1598842043|pages=358}}</ref>
-In 1862 British archaeologist [[Alexander Cunningham]] wrote of the site as the first entry in the first volume of the [[Archaeological Survey of India]]:
-<blockquote>The celebrated Bodhi tree still exists, but is very much decayed; one large stem, with three branches to the westward, is still green, but the other branches are barkless and rotten. The green branch perhaps belongs to some younger tree, as there are numerous stems of apparently different trees clustered together. The tree must have been renewed frequently, as the present Pipal is standing on a terrace at least 30 feet above the level of the surrounding country. It was in full vigour in 1811, when seen by [[Francis Buchanan-Hamilton|Dr. Buchanan (Hamilton)]], who describes it as in all probability not exceeding 100 years of age.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/cu31924008747788 Archaeological Survey of India], Volume 1, Four Reports Made During the Years 1862-63-64-66</ref></blockquote>
-However, the tree decayed further and in 1876 the remaining tree was destroyed in a storm. In 1881, Cunningham planted a new Bodhi tree on the same site.<ref name="buddhanet.net">{{cite web|url=http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/dharmadata/fdd23.htm |title=Buddhist Studies: Bodhi Tree |publisher=Buddhanet.net |access-date=2013-08-01}}</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/stream/cu31924008747788#page/n45/mode/1up Mahâbodhi, or the great Buddhist temple under the Bodhi tree at Buddha-Gaya], Alexander Cunningham, 1892: "I next saw the tree in 1871 and again in 1875, when it had become completely decayed, and shortly afterwards in 1876 the only remaining portion of the tree fell over the west wall during a storm, and the old pipal tree was gone. Many seeds, however, had been collected and the young scion of the parent tree were already in existence to take its place."</ref>
-===To Jetavana, Sravasti===
-[[File:Adoration_of_the_Diamond_Throne_and_the_Bodhi_Tree_Bharhut_relief.jpg|thumb|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]])".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Luders |first1=Heinrich |title=Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol.2 Pt.2 Bharhut Inscriptions |date=1963 |page=95 |url=https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.107897/2015.107897.Corpus-Inscriptionum-Indicarum-Vol2-Pt2-Bharhut-Inscriptions#page/n145}}</ref> [[Bharhut]] frieze (circa 100 BCE).]]
-{{Unreferenced section|date=January 2019}}
-It is said that in the ancient Buddhist texts{{citation needed|date=June 2021 |reason=We do not have a specific reference yet, but here is a site to  research ancient Buddhist texts: http://www.findingdulcinea.com/guides/Religion-and-Spirituality/Sacred-Texts.pg_0.html}} in order that people might make their offerings in the name of the Buddha when he was away on pilgrimage, the Buddha sanctioned the planting of a seed from the Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya in front of the gateway of [[Jetavana|Jetavana Monastery]] near [[Sravasti]]. For this purpose [[Moggallana]] took a fruit from the tree as it dropped from its stalk before it reached the ground. It was planted in a golden jar by [[Anathapindika]] with great pomp and ceremony. A sapling immediately sprouted forth, fifty [[cubit]]s high, and in order to consecrate it, the Buddha spent one night under it, rapt in meditation. This tree, because it was planted under the direction of [[Ananda]], came to be known as the Ananda Bodhi.
-===To Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka===
-King Asoka's daughter, [[Sanghamitta]], brought a piece of the tree with her to [[Sri Lanka]] where it is continuously growing to this day in the island's ancient capital, [[Anuradhapura]].<ref name="buddhanet.net"/>
-This Bodhi tree was originally named [[Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi]], and was a piece of another Bodhi tree planted in the year 245 B.C.<ref>{{cite web|author=K.H.J. Wijayadasa |url=http://srimahabodhi.org/index.htm |title=Śrī Maha Bodhi |publisher=Srimahabodhi.org |access-date=2013-08-01}}</ref> Although the original Bodhi tree deteriorated and died of old age, the descendants of the branch that was brought by Emperor Ashoka's son, Mahindra, and his daughter, Sanghmittra, can still be found on the island.<ref>{{cite web|author=George Boeree |url=http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/buddhahist.html |title=History of Buddhism |publisher=Webspace.ship.edu |access-date=2013-08-01}}</ref>
-According to the Mahavamsa, the Sri Maha Bodhi in [[Sri Lanka]] was planted in 288 BC, making it the oldest verified specimen of any [[angiosperm]]. In this year (the twelfth year of King [[Asoka]]'s reign) the right branch of the Bodhi tree was brought by Sanghamittā to Anurādhapura and placed by [[Devanampiyatissa|Devānāmpiyatissa]] his left foot in the Mahāmeghavana. The Buddha, on his death bed, had resolved five things, one being that the branch which should be taken to Ceylon should detach itself.<ref name="Mahavamsa"/> From Gayā, the branch was taken to [[Pātaliputta]], thence to [[Tamralipta|Tāmalittī]], where it was placed in a ship and taken to Jambukola, across the sea; finally it arrived at [[Anuradhapura]], staying on the way at [[Tivakka]]. Those who assisted the king at the ceremony of the planting of the Tree were the nobles of Kājaragāma and of Candanagāma and of Tivakka.
-The [[Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi]] is also known to be the most sacred Bodhi tree. This came upon the Buddhists who performed rites and rituals near the Bodhi tree. The Bodhi tree was known to cause rain and heal the ill. When an individual became ill, one of his or her relatives would visit the Bodhi tree to water it seven times for seven days and to vow on behalf of the sick for a speedy recovery.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://srimahabodhi.org/rain-maker2.htm |title=Rain-makers: The Sacred Bodhi Tree Part 2 |publisher=Srimahabodhi.org |date=2003-04-24 |access-date=2013-08-01}}</ref>
-===To Honolulu, Hawaii===
-{{Unreferenced section|date=January 2019}}
-In 1913, [[Anagarika Dharmapala]] took a sapling of the Sri Maha Bodhi to [[Hawaii]], where he presented it to his benefactor, Mary Foster, who had funded much Buddhist missionary work. She planted it in the grounds of her house in [[Honolulu]], by the Nuʻuanu stream. On her death, she left her house and its grounds to the people of Honolulu, and it became the [[Foster Botanical Garden]].
-===To Chennai, India===
-[[File:Bodhi tree in Theosophical Society.jpg|thumb|Sapling of the Maha bodhi tree planted in the year 1950 at Theosophical society]]
-In 1950, [[Jinarajadasa]] took three saplings of the Sri Maha Bodhi to plant two saplings in [[Chennai]], one was planted near the Buddha temple at the [[Theosophical Society]] another at the riverside of Adyar Estuary. The third was planted near a meditation center in Sri Lanka.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Madhavan|first1=Chitra|title=Buddhist shrine in Adyar|url=http://madrasmusings.com/Vol%2023%20No%206/buddhist-shrine-in-adyar.html|website=Madras Musings|publisher=Madras Musings|access-date=14 November 2015|ref=(ARCHIVE) VOL. XXIII NO. 6, JULY 1-15, 2013}}</ref>
-===To Thousand Oaks, California, USA===
-In 2012, Brahmanda Pratap Barua, Ripon, Dhaka, Bangladesh, took a sapling of Bodhi tree from Buddha Gaya, Maha Bodhi to [[Thousand Oaks, California]], where he presented it to his benefactor, Anagarika Glenn Hughes, who had funded much Buddhist work and teaches Buddhism in the USA. <ref>See “Navel in Buddha” on Academia.edu https://www.academia.edu/43042460/Navel_in_Buddha. Text is quoted verbatim. Multiple internet sites show the same text, but only this one appears to be a more reliable source.</ref> He and his students received the sapling with a great thanks, later they planted the sapling in the ground in a nearby park.
-=== To Nihon-ji, Japan ===
-In 1989, the government of [[India]] presented Nihon-ji with a sapling from the [[Bodhi Tree]] as a gesture of world peace.{{Cn|date=March 2021}}
-===The trees of the previous Buddhas===
-According to the Mahavamsa,<ref>{{cite web|publisher=For example, chap 15.|url=http://lakdiva.org/mahavamsa/chap015.html|title=CHAPTER XV_The Acceptance Of The Mahavihara}}</ref> branches from the Bodhi trees of all the Buddhas born during this [[Kalpa (aeon)|kalpa]] were planted in Ceylon ([[Sri Lanka]]) on the spot where the sacred Bodhi tree stands today in Anurādhapura. The branch of Kakusandha's tree was brought by Rucānandā, Konagamana's by Kantakānandā (or Kanakadattā), and Kassapa's by Sudhammā.{{Cn|date=March 2021}}
-== See also ==
-[[File:National Museum Vietnamese History 1 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Terracotta Bodhi leaf with dragon decoration, 13th-14th century, Vietnam]]
-* [[Bodhi]]
-* [[Atamasthana]]
-== References ==
-{{reflist}}
-==External links==
-{{Buddhism topics}}
-{{Gautama Buddha}}
-{{Tourist sites in Bihar}}
-[[Category:Bodh Gaya]]
-[[Category:Trees in religion]]
-[[Category:Individual trees in India]]
-[[Category:Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India]]
-[[Category:Trees in Buddhism]]
-[[Category:Individual fig trees]]
-[[Category:Gautama Buddha]]