(From top) Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

Almost 2,300 years after Sanghamitra took a branch of the Bodhi tree to Sri Lanka, another sapling of the sacred peepal would find a place abroad on Thursday.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on a tour to Japan and Thailand at present, would gift the sapling to Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej as a token of “peace and prosperity”.

Around a week ago, a sapling of the Bodhi tree was prepared by the Bodhgaya Temple Management Committee (BTMC) and sent to New Delhi following an order by the state government. BTMC secretary Nangzey Dorjee confirmed that the sapling had been sent to Delhi. He, however, refused to comment on why the sapling had been sent to New Delhi.

The Bodhi tree on Mahabodhi Mahavihara campus under which prince Siddhartha sat on meditation and attained enlightenment around 2,600 years ago is most sacred for Buddhists around the world.

Mahabodhi Mahavihara chief priest Bhikkhu Chalinda said according to historical records, a sapling of the original peepal tree in Bodhgaya was taken to Sri Lanka by Sanghamitra, the daughter of emperor Asoka around 288 BC. The tree — considered the oldest documented human-planted tree in the world — is still there in the island nation’s Anuradhapura.

Exactly a century ago, a sapling of the Bodhi tree is believed to have been gifted to Honolulu’s Mary Foster by Anagarika Dharmapala, a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk. Upon her death in 1930, the tree found a place at Foster Botanical Garden in Honolulu.

There is no official record with the BTMC, constituted in 1953, whether the sapling of Bodhi tree has been taken outside India.

Since June 27, 2002, when Mahabodhi Mahavihara was enlisted as a World Heritage site by Unesco, the number of Buddhist devotees, tourists, foreign premiers and delegates has increased.

In recent years, sapling of the Bodhi tree has been taken to Patna only where it was planted at Buddha Smriti Park during Buddha Purnima on May 27, 2010. Another sapling of the Bodhi tree has been planted on the campus of chief minister’s residence at 1 Aney Marg. Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama had led the sanctifying ceremony of the Bodhi tree sapling at the chief minister’s residence on January 5 this year. The state government has also acknowledged the importance of Bodhi tree by adopting it as the logo of Bihar tourism.