Two precious gifts from India
Buddhism was the greatest gift Sri Lanka received from its great neighbour. Swiftly on its heels arrived two other gifts intimately connected with it though of a more physical and tangible nature. The first of them, as stated earlier was the sacred 'Bo' tree. The Indians called it the Tipal' tree. This is a tree of the botanical family called `Ficus'. Because of its religious nature the tree now bears the term 'Ficus religiosa'.
Trees of the ficus family have been venerated in India since countless centuries. One such tree became the chosen tree of the Lord Buddha. Its significance in Buddhism cannot be underestimated.
It is related that after reaching Enlightenment the Buddha, stood for one whole week looking at it with eyes full of gratitude. It was therefore a sapling of the original tree of Bodhigaya which was brought to Lanka and planted in our soil.
It is of interest to note that even after Anuradhapura was abandoned as the capital as a result of invaders occupying the sacred city, no harm was ever done to this tree.
One reason probably is that this tree was also venerated by the invading Hindus for reasons of their own. In any case it miraculously escaped destruction and stands today for public veneration as it did two thousand five hundred years ago.
There are two facts that illustrated the importance of the sacred 'Bo treeeven in those early times. Firstly the
