Bodhgaya

Bodhgaya is 14 kms south of Gaya. The Buddha meditated under a Peepal (Ficus Religiosa) tree there and achieved his enlightenment. The tree, known as the Bodhi Tree, continues to live through its descendants. Emperor Asoka had sent saplings of the tree to Sri Lanka. When the original Bodhi tree died in the 6th century, a sapling of that tree in Sri Lanka was brought back and planted at the very spot where the original tree stood. The tree again fell down during the last part of the 19th century while some repair work was underway. Two of its saplings were planted, one in place of the old tree and the other a little away from it. Thus the present Bodhi tree is about a century old.