Mahabodhi Mahavihara monks hand over the Bodhi tree sapling to the consulate-general of Nepal in India General Krishna Chaitanya (extreme right) in Bodhgaya on Friday. Picture by Suman

Gaya, Nov. 22: Nepal is next in the line of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s sapling diplomacy with neighbouring countries.

The Himalayan country, following Sri Lanka, Thailand, South Korea and Vietnam, would get a sapling of the sacred Bodhi tree from Bodhgaya during Modi’s visit on November 25.

The sapling would be planted on the premises of Maya Devi temple in Lumbini — the birthplace of Prince Siddhartha, who later received enlightenment to become Gautam Buddha — on November 28.

The prince had attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree on World Heritage Mahabodhi Mahavihara premises in Bodhgaya around 2,600 years ago to be called Buddha.

Consulate-general of Nepal in India General Krishna Chaitanya received the Bodhi tree sapling in Bodhgaya from the Bodhgaya Temple Management Committee (BTMC) secretary Nangzey Dorjee yesterday. Earlier in the day, monks led by Mahavihara chief monk Bhikkhu Chalinda chanted special prayers with the sapling before Lord Buddha’s statue in the Mahavihara sanctum sanctorum.

Thereafter, tree scientists from Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, Suresh Chandra and Amit Pandey conducted a health examination of the sapling and also gave necessary nutrients to it.

Dorjee said the ministry of external affairs had sent a letter to the Bihar government that was also endorsed to the Gaya district magistrate-cum-BTMC chairman around 10 days ago for the sapling. It was mentioned in the letter that the Prime Minister would take the sapling with him to Nepal.

“Permission from the home department was sought for the same and after getting its clearance, the sapling was handed over to the Nepal consulate-general in India. The saplings germinate from the seeds of the Bodhi tree. After the saplings grow, the gardener preserves them. Such preserved saplings, when in need officially, are sent abroad only with the specific permission of the Bihar government,” Dorjee explained.

The sacred Bodhi tree at the Mahavihara, which is the official logo of the Bihar government, is getting its generation spread across the globe.

President Pranab Mukherjee gifted the sapling to his Vietnam counterpart Truong Tan Sang during his visit to the country in September this year. In May 2013, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had gifted another sapling to Thailand King Bhumibol Adulyadej during his visit to that country.

In March this year, a sapling was sent to South Korea President Park Geun-hye as a fulfilment of offer by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the former during her visit to India in January this year.

Mahavihara chief monk Bhikkhu Chalinda told The Telegraph that according to historical records, a sapling of the original peepal tree in Bodhgaya under which Prince Siddhartha attained enlightenment was taken to Sri Lanka by Sanghamitra, the daughter of Emperor Asoka around 288BC. This tree continues to stand in Anuradhapurum in Sri Lanka, the oldest documented human-planted tree in the world, he said.