BO TREE

also called Bodhi Tree, according to Buddhist tradition, the pipal (species Ficus religiosa) under which the Buddha sat when he attained enlightenment (bodhi) at Bodh Gaya (near Gaya, west-central Bihar state, India). In early Buddhist art the Bo tree was often used as an aniconic symbol of the Buddha. A living pipal at Anuradhapura, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), is said to have grown from a cutting from the Bo tree sent to that city by King Asoka in the 3rd century BC. See also Ficus.