page_title: Bodhi Tree
section_title: To Chennai, India
hierarchical_section_title: Bodhi Tree / Origin and descendants / To Chennai, India
caption_attribution_description: English: Sapling from the Mahabodhi tree planted in the year 1950
context_page_description: The Bodhi Tree or Bodhi Fig Tree was a large and ancient sacred fig tree, also called the Bo Tree, located in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India, under which Siddhartha Gautama, the spiritual teacher who became known as the Buddha, is said to have attained enlightenment or Bodhi circa 500 BCE. In religious iconography, the Bodhi Tree is recognizable by its heart-shaped leaves, which are usually prominently displayed.
  The proper term "Bodhi Tree" is also applied to existing sacred fig trees, also known as bodhi trees. The foremost example of an existing tree is the Mahabodhi Tree growing at the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, which is often cited as a direct descendant of the original tree. This tree, planted around 250 BCE, is a frequent destination for pilgrims, being the most important of the four main Buddhist pilgrimage sites.
  Other holy bodhi trees which have a great significance in the history of Buddhism are the Anandabodhi Tree at Jetavana in Sravasti in North India and the Sri Maha Bodhi Tree in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. Both are also believed to have been propagated from the original Bodhi Tree.
context_section_description: In 1950, Jinarajadasa took three saplings of the Sri Maha Bodhi to plant two saplings in Chennai, one was planted near the Buddha temple at the Theosophical Society another at the riverside of Adyar Estuary. The third was planted near a meditation center in Sri Lanka.
caption: Sapling of the Maha bodhi tree planted in the year 1950 at Theosophical society
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