The Bodhi Tree (tree of awakening), also called the Bo Tree, is a symbol of the Buddha and enlightenment as it recalls the tree and the place under which the Buddha Siddhartha Gautama meditated in Bhodgaya, India after he renounced his life as a prince and practiced asceticism and just before he reached enlightenment or his great awakening (mahabodhi). As he was reaching enlightenment he reached over his right knee to touch the earth to call on the demon mara, who had sought to foil his quest, to witness his enlightenment. Representations of the Buddha with his legs in the meditation position, his left hand in his lap and his fingers of the right hand touching the earth reminds viewers of this important event, and the hand position (mudra) is called bhumisparsa mudra (touch the earth mudra). A branch from this sacred tree and Buddhist symbol was believed to have been transported by Indian Emperor Ashoka’s daughter Saṅghamittā and planted in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka where it remains the world’s oldest documented tree.
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This Tibetan Repoussé image presents various symbols of the Enlightenment of the Shakyamuni-Buddha. He sits within a trefoil arch on a lotus base (padmapitha) under the bodhi tree in bhumisparsha mudra (earth witnessing or hand touching position) symbolizing the moment of his enlightenment legs bent in (padmasana). The detailed trefoil arch surrounding the Buddha’s head…
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