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| Entrance Sri Maha Bodiya |
The Bodhi tree at
the Mahabodhi Temple is called the Sri Maha Bodhi. According to Buddhist
texts the Buddha, after his Enlightenment, spent a whole week in front
of the tree, standing with unblinking eyes, gazing at it with gratitude.
A shrine was later erected on the spot where he stood, and was called
the Animisalocana cetiya.
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| Jaya Sri Maha Bodiya |
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 Sanghamitta to Anuradhapura and placed by
Devanampiyatissa his left foot in the Mahameghavana. The Buddha, on his
death bed, had resolved five things, one being that the branch which
should be taken to Ceylon should detach itself. From Gaya, the branch
was taken to Pataliputta, thence to Tamalitti, 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.
According to the Mahavamsa, branches from the Bodhi trees of all the Buddhas born during this kalpa were planted in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) on the spot where the sacred Bodhi tree stands today in Anurahapura.
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