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In the 3rd - century BC , with the planting of a single Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , the city of Anuradhapura , Sri Lanka , became a sacred station . The tree was grown from a thinning from a holy tree in Bodh Gaya , under which Buddha had found enlightenment .
These two trees — in Anuradhapura and Bodh Gaya , India — and otherFicus religiosaare call religious fig trees , or , most famously , bodhi trees . And , after Buddha was believed to have sat under its canopy and found enlightenment , the trees would become sacred emblems , represent wisdom and beckoning others to be serene beneath its folio .
Anuradhapura ’s bodhi tree diagram ; photo cite : hu9423 , Wikipedia
Anuradhapura ’s bodhi Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree ( called Sri Maha Bodhi ) is pronounce to have arrived around 250 BC , in the men of a Buddhist princess who hoped to spread Buddha ’s educational activity to Sri Lanka . Today , the bodhi tree diagram is very large and very one-time — at more than 2,000 year one-time , it is believed to be the oldest known tree plant by human hand , and the old historically authenticated Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree in the world ( this means that its eld is verified by a continuous procession of guardians , since it was first planted ) .
And it is still lean today , by stream of devotees who make a pilgrimage to the bodhi tree for offerings and prayer . A golden rail wall the ancient trunk , and prayer flag flutter on its branches .
Ficus religiosais a species of banyan fig native to India , Bangladesh , Nepal , Pakistan , Sri Lanka , southwest China , and Indochina . The leaves are 4 inch to 6.5 inches long , 3 in to almost 5 column inch wide of the mark , and distinctively cordate , or heart - form . The Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree turn up to 100 foundation tall and , the trunk , up to 10 metrical unit wide of the mark .
Leaves from theFicus religiosa ; photo creditEric Guinther .
Anna Laurent is a writer and manufacturer of educational botanical medium . Photographs from her forthcoming field guide to Los Angeles are available for exhibition and purchase at theauthor ’s shop class .
