THE BODHI TREE
This is the most important of all the places for a devout Buddhist. The Jatakas reveal that the Bodhi Tree is an object of veneration as the Buddha himself sanctioned it and is also regarded as a symbolic representation of the Buddha, the fact which is corroborated by sculptural evidence. Thus, some of the earlier representations of the Buddha were shown by substituting the Bodhi Tree which is also called the Peepal Tree (botanical name of which is the Ficus Religiosa). The present tree is probably the fifth succession of the original tree which was earlier destroyed several times by man-made misery and natural calamities. It was here under this tree itself that the Buddha spent the first week in meditation after attaining Enlightenment. He spent seven weeks in seven different places inside the temple complex.
