Leaf from Sri Lankan Bodhi Tree in Wooden Box

Leaf from Sri Lankan Bodhi Tree in Wooden Box

Fig Leaf

The Bodhi Tree also is known as Bo or "peepal" tree was large, the sacred fig tree that was located in Bodh Gaya. It is known for being the tree that Siddhartha Gautama, also known as the Buddha sat under to attain enlightenment. The name "Bodhi Tree" is applied to another sacred fig tree located in Bodh Gaya at the Mahabodhi Temple, grown from a specimen of the original Bodhi tree. The Bodhi Tree continues to be one of the four main Buddhist pilgrimage sites and is recognized for its heart-shaped leaves. 

Check out the High Library for more information. 

Check out sacred texts that relate to the artifact. 

• The Middle Way 
• Mara, The Evil One

Sources: 
Alexander Cunningham, Mahâbodhi, Or, the Great Buddhist Temple under the Bodhi Tree at Buddha-Gaya (New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, 2012).

Elizabethtown College (Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, USA)

Elizabethtown College retains all intellectual property rights to this image including, but not limited to, digital rights and any derivative works. For permission for reproduction, please contact the College’s Administrative Assistant for Humanities.

A small dried fig leaf contained in a wooden box.

Physical Object

Puffenberger #149

Sri Lanka