There are some trees that go down in history for having been very important to humanity, such as the bodhi tree. This is a plant of the species Religious ficus, below which Siddharta Gautama (better known as Buddha) sat in meditation.
If you want to know the legend that surrounds this plant, in Jardinería On We are going to tell you about it below. 🙂
Legend
According to Buddhist history, Siddhartha Gautama sat under this tree for weeks. One day, a horrible storm started, and as a consequence, from under the roots of the tree, Muchilinda, the king of serpents, emerged and wrapped itself around Gautama, covering him. Thus, Gautama finally he attained spiritual enlightenment and became a buddha, after which it gave rise to Buddhism.
Buddha, grateful for what the tree had taught him, stood before him with open eyes without blinking for a week.
What is the truth?
Well, little thing. It may be that he did find enlightenment in that tree, but certainly no one is known to go without eating or drinking or blinking for days. Even so, there are things that are completely true, such as that the tree became a pilgrimage site during the life of Buddha and still today.
Now, the tree that we know today is not the one that Buddha saw, but a direct descendant.
How is he Religious ficus?
El Religious ficus, known as the banyan tree, banyan tree or fig tree of India, it is a deciduous tree (it loses the leaves during the dry season if the climate is tropical, or in winter if it is temperate) that exceeds 30 meters in height and has a trunk diameter of more than 3 meters. The leaves are cordate, 10-17cm long and 8-12cm wide. The fruit is a 1-1,5cm diameter fig, purple in color when ripe.
To be able to see itself in all its splendor, it needs to be planted in a large garden, at a distance of 10 meters from pipes and so on. Resists up to -7ºC.
Did you know the story of the Bodhi tree?