Bodhi Tree

The Bodhi Tree aka the Bo Tree(“Tree of Awakening”) is a holy tree in the Mahabodhi temple campus in Bodhgaya. The tree is 2500 years old and considered to be a direct descendant of the tree under which Siddharta Gautama attained enlightenment. The tree is of great religious importance for the Buddhists. The holy tree also holds many religious and historical stories behind its existence over the years. It is believed that in the 3rd century BC, Emperor Asoka’s daughter Sanghamitta brought a branch of the Bodhi Tree to Sri Lanka and planted it at Anuradhapura, which is still blooming. Yet another story depicts that, Asoka’s wife destroyed the original Bodhi Tree out of jealousy over the time the emperor spent there. The common belief is that the original tree was destroyed and replanted using a shoot from the Sri Lanka tree.