Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c11.s1.92

c11.s1.92

The *bo*-tree is of course constantly represented in Buddhist paintings (Pl. XIX., etc). To each Buddha belonged a tree, beneath the shade of which he sat at the critical period of his life, the coming of enlightenment. The *bo*-tree (*Ficus religiosa*) of Gotama Buddha has thus come to occupy, as a symbol, much the same position *amongst* Buddhists as the cross amongst Christians. A branch of the actual tree beneath which the Buddha sat, was brought to Anurādhapura in the third century, B.C.; and there it still grows—the oldest historical tree in the world. But a *bo*-tree of some sort, large or small, is to be found near every vihāra, and offerings of flowers are laid on a stone altar before it. Sometimes white cotton banners or garlands are attached to the branches. The leaves are separately used as decorative motifs as described below. Trees of various kinds are often represented in decorative paintings, severely but beautifully conventionalised as in Pl. XIV., 8 and Fig. 41. In these pictures, grace and symmetry are wonderfully combined.