Sacred fig facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sacred fig
Leaves and trunk, showing the distinctive heart-shaped leaf
Scientific classification
Genus:	Ficus
Species:	religiosa
Synonyms
Ficus caudata Stokes Ficus peepul Griff. Ficus religiosa var. cordata Miq. Ficus religiosa var. rhynchophylla Miq. Ficus rhynchophylla Steud. Ficus superstitiosa Link Urostigma affine Miq. Urostigma religiosum (L.) Gasp.

Ficus religiosa or sacred fig is a species of fig native to the Indian subcontinent and Indochina. It belongs to Moraceae, the fig or mulberry family. It is also known as the bodhi tree, pippala tree, peepul tree, peepal tree or ashwattha tree (in India and Nepal).

The sacred fig is considered to have a religious significance in three major religions of the Indian subcontinent: Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism. It is the type of tree under which Gautama Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment. Hindu and Jain ascetics also consider the tree to be sacred and often meditate under them.

It begins life as an epiphyte, and eventually surrounds and outlives its host tree.

Typical example of aerial roots

Images for kids

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  Nature printed leaf, showing shape and venation

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  Flooded Ficus religiosa trunk in the muddy water of the Mekong, in Laos.

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  A young tree growing on a concrete wall in Delhi. It is tolerant to wide variety of soils, and hence it even thrives on concrete walls having little moisture.

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  Painted goblet, with peepal leaf motif, from Mundigak (Afghanistan), period IV, c. 2700 BC. Musée Guimet.

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

See also

In Spanish: Ficus religiosa para niños