Pipal and banyan – two sacred fig trees

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pipal, or sacred fig (Ficus religiosa), has broad, heart-shaped leaves, ending in a long, tapering point. This species belongs to a group of fig trees, called strangler figs. Most pipals begin their life as an epiphyte in another tree, the seed often sprouting in a pile of bird dung, delivered by the bird that ate the fig fruit. Over the years, aerial roots of the pipal wrap around the host tree, growing down to the ground, where they take root. Eventually, the host tree is strangled to death, and as its trunk decays, it leaves the pipal tree as a hollow cylinder of aerial roots. Pipal also often grows in cracks on buildings, its aerial roots, if allowed, enveloping the building and, over time, destroying it.

The small fruits of the two species are an important food item for various birds, including blue-headed barbet (Psilopogon asiaticus), red-billed blue magpie (Urocissa erythrorhyncha), rosy starling (Pastor roseus), common myna (Acridotheres tristis), and Asian glossy starling (Aplonis panayensis), and also for monkeys, including rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) and bonnet macaque (M. radiata).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To Buddhists, pipal is a symbol of nirvana (enlightenment), and it is widely planted in Sri Lanka, Indochina, and Taiwan.

Villagers in Nepal often plant the two species side by side, constructing stone benches, called chotara, around their trunks. Here, in the shade, villagers meet to chat, and hard-working porters can have a well-deserved rest. According to a Nepalese legend, the two species are husband and wife, while another legend claims that they are cousins.

 

 

 

 

 

Foot-sore, he sat down to rest in the shade of a huge pipal tree, determined not to leave, before he had found a satisfying answer to his question. For 49 days and nights he sat here, deep in meditation. Then he got up, convinced that he had found the answer.

From this day, he travelled about, preaching his new philosophy to a growing crowd of followers. His name was Siddharta Gautama, by his followers called The Buddha (‘The Enlightened One’). The pipal tree, beneath which he had obtained nirvana, was called Bodhi (’Tree of Enlightenment’). Over the following centuries, a village named Bodhgaya sprung up around this tree, and many Buddhist temples were built here.

Today, thousands of pilgrims travel to Bodhgaya each year to revere a sacred pipal tree here, which is said to be a direct descendant of the ancient Bodhi tree, beneath which Siddharta Gautama obtained nirvana.

In the Mahamewna Gardens in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, is another large pipal tree, which, according to devotees, is a direct descendent of the original Bodhi tree. It is said that in 236 B.C., Emperor Asoka sent the Buddhist nun Sanghamitta Maha Theri to Sri Lanka, where she presented a branch of the original Bodhi tree to King Devanampiya Tissa, who brought Buddhism to Sri Lanka. The king planted the branch in his Royal Park in Anuradhapura. The branch grew into a tree, later known as Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi, which is still alive today, thus being the oldest planted tree in the world.

The Buddha and Buddhism are described in depth on the page Religion: Buddhism.