Sacred fig

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iSacred Fig

Leaves and trunk of a Sacred Fig.
Note the distinctive leaf shape.

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Rosales
Family:	Moraceae
Genus:	Ficus
Subgenus:	Urostigma
Species:	F. religiosa

Binomial name

Ficus religiosa
L.

The Sacred Fig Ficus religiosa, also known as Bo (from the Sinhalese Bo), Pipal (Peepul) or Ashwattha tree, is a species of banyan fig native to India, southwest China and Indochina east to Vietnam. It is a large dry season-deciduous or semi-evergreen tree up to 30 m tall and with a trunk diameter of up to 3 m.

The Bodhi Tree at the Mahabodhi Temple. Propagated from the Sri Maha Bodhi, which in turn is propagated from the original Bodhi Tree at this location.

The leaves are cordate in shape with a distinctive extended tip; they are 10-17 cm long and 8-12 cm broad, with a 6-10 cm petiole. The fruit is a small fig 1-1.5 cm diameter, green ripening purple.

The Bodhi tree and the Sri Maha Bodhi propagated from it are famous specimens of Sacred Fig. The known planting date of the latter, 288 BC, gives it the oldest verified age for any angiosperm plant.

This plant is considered "sacred" by the followers of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, and hence the name 'Sacred Fig' was given to it. Siddhartha Gautama is referred to have been sitting underneath a Bo Tree when he was enlightened (Bodhi), or "awakened" (Buddha). Today Sadhus still meditate below this tree.

A Sacred Fig at Foster Botanical Garden in Honolulu, Hawaii

1 Plaksa
2 Notes
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Plaksa

Plaksa is a Sanskrit term for the Sacred Fig. According to Macdonell and Keith (1912), it denotes the waved leaf fig-tree (Ficus infectoria).

In Hindu texts, the Plaksa tree is associated with the source of the Sarasvati river. The Skanda Purana states that the Sarasvati originates from the water pot of Brahma and flows from Plaksa on the Himalayas. According to Vamana Purana 32.1-4, the Sarasvati was rising from the Plaska tree (Pipal tree).^[1]

Plaksa Pra-sravana denotes the place where the Sarasvati appears.^[2] In the Rigveda Sutras, Plaksa Pra-sravana refers to the source of the Sarasvati.^[3]

[edit] Notes

^ D.S. Chauhan in Radhakrishna, B.P. and Merh, S.S. (editors): Vedic Sarasvati, 1999, p.35-44
^ Pancavimsa Brahmana, Jaiminiya Upanisad Brahmana, Katyayana Srauta Sutra, Latyayana Srauta; Macdonell and Keith 1912
^ Asvalayana Srauta Sutra, Sankhayana Srauta Sutra; Macdonell and Keith 1912, II:55