Anuradhapura is known in the Buddhist world as the home of the oldest historically documented tree in the world It is called the BODHI or BO TREE, literally ,the Tree of wisdom . It is the first Eight Holy Sites(ata masthana)of the sacred city of Anuradhapura venerated by the pilgrim who visit this sacred city today .Bodhi tree fall in to the class of tree known as vanuspati ,the lords of the jungle , large trees bearig fruits apparently without blossoms

Though a tree , the buddhist look up to it as a living being , the buddha him self in symbolic form.Thus the Buddhist calls it 'jaya sri maha bodhin vahanse'or 'siri ma bo hamuduruwo' village folk call it 'uda maluwe bodhi sami' the lord of the upper terrace, because it occupies the uppermost of the terraces(malu) at site it was brought to this island three centuries before the dawn of the Christian era from bodhi-gaya or buddha-gaya in the modern state of Bihar in india the sapling that was brought came from the original tree under which the Indian prince , Siddhartha,sat when he became the Buddha, the one who has attained enlighnment,bodhi.sami-bodhi or abhi-sami-bodhi.

The tree belongs to the family of trees known as 'asvathu' in sanskrit,assatthai pali, oesatu in sinhala,'fig in English and 'ficus'in latin .Thus the botanists have named it 'ficus religiosa' retaining its religious significance in India ,this tree was considered the cosmic Tree of life . it was also venerated as an abode of gods . the original tree at Buddha-gaya is no more and as a resalt the tree in Anuradhapura became the oldest tree in the world that has a historical record going back to the days of the Buddha . There are chronicles written both in pali and sinhala known as 'Bodhi vamsa' that record the history of this tree in detail.

The saping of the original tree was brought to this island by a nun,Theri Sangamiththa, the sister of Thera mahinda, who introduced Buddhism to this land .Both were children of the indian emperor Asoka, who eaned a name as the greatest of kings the only king who gave up war after victory The english writer' H.G.Wells,says in his 'The outline of history' that 'Amidst the tens of names of monarchs that crowd the colums of history their majesties and graciousnesses ,and serenities and royal highnesses and the like ,the name of the monastery known as Maha vihara the Grest monastery ,in the royal park of Maha Megha-vana. It is said that all the bodhi tree in the island to day have their genetic links with this tree

It is a sacred tree that has an aura of magic .Buddhists belive that it has the power to cause rain , and to bestow childrento the chidless. Almost every day one sees ,in its shade,women making vows to be blessed with children and the many coconut-sprouts that are plased at its foot to fulfill these vows which show silently that their wishes have been answerd. This tree is also belived to bethe abode of a god named ,Kalu Devatha Bandara.