The sacred tree
On the top terrace behind gilded railings.
Uviein — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Balou46 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hirushini Dematagoda — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Pierre André Leclercq — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Balou46 — CC BY-SA 3.0
Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi is a sacred fig tree in Anuradhapura, believed by Buddhists to have grown from a branch of the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya in India, under which the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment. Tradition dates its planting to 288 BCE, and Guinness World Records lists it as the oldest known human-planted tree. It stands in the Sacred City of Anuradhapura, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1982. According to the Mahavamsa chronicle, the nun Sanghamitta, daughter of the Indian emperor Ashoka, brought the branch in the 3rd century BCE, and King Devanampiya Tissa planted it in his royal park. Monks have tended it ever since, and later kings surrounded it with statues, water channels and walls. It is one of Anuradhapura's eight sacred places. The tree grows on the top terrace, raised about 6.5 metres, behind gilded railings first added in 1969, and some old branches rest on metal supports. Visitors stay on the lower terraces, planted with other Bo trees to protect it. Pilgrims, many in white, make offerings and vows; local farmers bring rice from their first harvest. An image house east of the tree holds a 3.3-metre seated Buddha of about the 6th century, carved from one dolomite-marble block. The Lovamahapaya (Brazen Palace) ruins lie about 200 metres north, and Ruwanwelisaya about 600 metres, an easy walk. Jetavanaramaya is about 1 km north-east, Abhayagiri Vihara about 3 km north and Mihintale some 13 km east, all as the crow flies. Allow about an hour; full-moon Poya days are the busiest.
On the top terrace behind gilded railings.
Planted on the lower terraces around it.
Farmers bring their first rice at harvest time.
Sacred City, south of Ruwanwelisaya, Anuradhapura
Light-coloured clothes that cover shoulders and knees, ideally white, as pilgrims wear. Shoes and hats come off at the entrance, and never pose for a photo with your back to a Buddha statue.
On full-moon Poya days, especially Unduvap in December, which honours Sanghamitta and the planting of the tree, and Poson in June, whose main ceremonies are held in Anuradhapura and Mihintale.
