Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c29.806

v2.c29.806

In the case of Gotama Buddha, his Bodhi-tree sprang up on the day he was born.⁷ After his Enlightenment, he spent a whole week in front of it, standing with unblinking eyes, gazing at it with gratitude. A shrine was later erected on the spot where he so stood, and was called the Animisalocana-cetiya (q.v.). The spot was used as a shrine even in the lifetime of the Buddha, the only shrine that could be so used. While the Buddha was yet alive, in order that people might make their offerings in the name of the Buddha when he was away on pilgrimage, he sanctioned the planting of a seed from the Bodhi-tree in Gayā in front of the gateway of Jetavana. For this purpose Moggallāna took a fruit from a tree at Gayā as it dropped from its stalk, before it reached the ground. It was planted in a golden jar by Anāthapindika with great pomp and ceremony. A sapling immediately sprouted forth, fifty cubits high, and in order to consecrate it the Buddha spent one night under it, wrapt in meditation. This tree, because it was planted under the direction of Ānanda, came to be known as the Ānanda-Bodhi.⁸