Babakigadi123 at 06:27, 3 October 2025

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{{Short description|Sacred tree in Jainism and Hinduism}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2018}}
[[File:Akshay Vat, The Banyan Tree Witness to The Gita, Kurukshetra, India.jpg|thumb|250x250px|A tree at [[Kurukshetra]], claimed to be the Akshayavata]]

'''Akshayavata''' ({{Langx|sa|अक्षयवट|lit=undecaying banyan|translit=Akṣayavaṭa}}), also rendered '''Akshayavat''', is a sacred [[banyan]] tree mentioned in the [[Hindu mythology]] and in [[Jainism]]. It is also the name of a sacred lake mentioned in the [[Puranas]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2017-02-23 |title=Akshayavata, Akṣayavaṭa, Akṣayavata, Akshaya-vata: 5 definitions |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/akshayavata |access-date=2022-11-22 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2019-09-21 |title=Gayā and Other Holy Places [Chapter 38] |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-padma-purana/d/doc365257.html |access-date=2022-11-22 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref>

== In Hinduism ==
The [[Padma Purana]] states that those who venerate the Akshayavata with devotion are freed from sins.<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2019-10-31 |title=The Greatness of Puruṣottama [Chapter 18] |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-padma-purana/d/doc365859.html |access-date=2022-11-22 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref>

The Akshayavata is mentioned as a holy site of Gaya in the Mahabharata.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bernstein |first1=Erin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JmkuDwAAQBAJ&dq=akshayavata+markandeya&pg=PT370 |title=The Mahabharata: A Modern Retelling: Volume 3: The Forest |last2=Ganguli |first2=Kisari Mohan |date=2017-07-27 |publisher=BookRix |isbn=978-3-7438-2477-5 |pages=370 |language=en}}</ref>

According to legend, once, the sage [[Markandeya]] asked [[Narayana]] to show him a taste of his divine power. Narayana caused a [[pralaya]], flooding the entire world for a moment, during which only the Akshayavata could be seen above the water level.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Crooke |first=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fTDXAAAAMAAJ&dq=markandeya+akshayavata&pg=PA98 |title="The" Popular Religion and Folklore of Northern India |date=1896 |publisher=Constable |pages=98 |language=en}}</ref>

According to regional tradition, the emperor [[Jahangir]] cut the Akshayavata to its roots and hammered a red-hot iron cauldron on its stump so that it would not grow again. However, within a year, the tree began to grow again.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/shivajihistimes00sarkrich/page/442/mode/2up Page 443, Shivaji and His Times, J.N. Sarkar]</ref>

== In Jainism ==
[[File:Footprints_of_Rishabha.jpg|thumb|250x250px|Ancient footprints and a [[Śvetāmbara]] [[Jainism|Jain]] idol of [[Rishabhanatha]] commemorating the place of his omniscience under the Akshayavata tree]]
According to [[Jain literature|Jain scriptures]], it is the place where [[Rishabhanatha]], the first [[Tirthankara]] of the current time cycle, attained [[Kevala jnana|omniscience]] after a 1000-year long penance. Omniscience in [[Jainism]] is considered to be an eternal and universal knowledge that never fades. Hence, the tree was also popularly known as 'Akṣayavata'.<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2017-09-20 |title=Part 8: Ṛṣabha’s kevala |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/jainism/book/trishashti-shalaka-purusha-caritra/d/doc212456.html |access-date=2024-12-17 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref>

The place where this tree is situated (in [[Prayagraj#In Jainism|Prayagraj]]) is of great significance to Jains and a [[Śvetāmbara]] Jain shrine housing Rishabhanatha's footprints was also built there. Originally, sandalwood footprints of Rishabhanatha were placed beneath the tree, which were later replaced with stone replicas following theft.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |last=Jinaprabhasuri |first=Acharya |title=Vividh Tirthkalpa Sachitra |url=https://jainqq.org/explore/004512/293}}</ref> Other significant events associated to the place where this tree is situated: -

* [[Rishabhanatha|Rishabhanatha's]] attainment of omniscience beneath the ''Akshayvat'' tree.<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2017-09-21 |title=Part 12: Marudevī’s omniscience and death |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/jainism/book/trishashti-shalaka-purusha-caritra/d/doc212460.html |access-date=2024-12-16 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref>
* The creation of the first ''Samavasaran'' ({{Translation|multistoreyed divine preaching hall}}) of this [[Avasarpiṇī]].<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":2" />
* The establishment of the first ''[[Śvetāmbara#The Chaturvidha Sangha|Chaturvidha Jain Sangh]]'' (fourfold Jain congregation) of this [[Avasarpiṇī]].<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":2" />
* [[Marudevi|Marudevi's]] attainment of [[moksha]], marking the first ''moksha'' of this [[Avasarpiṇī]].<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":2" />
* The composition of the first [[Jain literature|Dvādaśāṅgī]] scriptures by [[Ganadhara]] Pundarika, a disciple of [[Rishabhanatha]].<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":2" />

== Identification ==

A tree in [[Prayagraj]] has been described as Akshayavata in the ''Prayag Mahatmya'' of the ''[[Matsya Purana]]''.<ref name="KM_2008">{{cite book |author=Kama Maclean |title=Pilgrimage and Power: The Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, 1765-1954 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MALacgnsroMC&pg=PA5 |date=28 August 2008 |publisher=OUP USA |isbn=978-0-19-533894-2 |pages=70–73 }}</ref>

In ''The Encyclopaedia Asiatica'' (1976), Edward Balfour identifies a banyan tree mentioned in [[Ramayana]] with the tree at Prayag.<ref name="FJSimoons_Life">{{cite book | title = Plants of life, plants of death | author = Frederick J. Simoons | edition = illustrated | publisher = University of Wisconsin Press | year = 1998 | isbn = 978-0-299-15904-7 | pages = 80–81 }}</ref> [[Rama]], [[Lakshmana]], and [[Sita]] are said to have rested beneath this tree.<ref name="WCrooke_Religion">{{cite book |author=W. Crooke |title=The Popular Religion and Folklore of Northern India |publisher=Kessinger |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-4179-4902-1 |edition=reprint |page=98}}</ref> The Chinese Buddhist pilgrim [[Xuanzang]] mentions a tree (a stump with few branches<ref name="FJSimoons_Life" />) which was said to be the home of a man-eating demon. As part of a custom, some pilgrims would offer themselves at the nearby temple. Xuanzang mentions that the tree was surrounded by human bones. [[Alexander Cunningham]] identified this tree with the Akshayavata at Prayag.<ref name="WCrooke_Religion" /> [[Rishabha (Jain tirthankar)]] is also said to have practised [[tapasya]] beneath the historical Akshayavata at Prayag.

Currently, a sacred fig tree located within the Patalpuri Temple at the [[Allahabad Fort]] is worshipped as the Akshayavata described in ancient texts. {{As of|2011}}, a permission from the Commandant of Prayagraj Fort's Ordnance Depot is needed to visit this tree. On one day during the [[Allahabad Kumbh Mela|Kumbh Mela]], the site is open to all the pilgrims. However, a popular opinion is that the Patalpuri Temple tree is not the authentic Akshayavata: the real Akshayavata is in another underground temple inside the Fort. When the British gained control of the Allahabad Fort after the [[Treaty of Allahabad|Treaty of Prayagraj]] in 1765, they did not want general public to access the sensitive parts of the fort. So, the shrine was moved to the fringes of the fort compound, that is, the present-day Patalpuri Temple.<ref name="KM_2008" /> According to the Welsh travel writer [[Fanny Parkes]], who visited both the tree sites in 1831, when the original Akshayavata chamber was closed, the local Brahmins set up the stump of a [[Ziziphus mauritiana|ber tree]] in Patalpuri. They claimed that it was a branch of the original Akshayavata that had penetrated through the walls. Parkes states that the local Hindus of Prayag knew about this and did not worship the false Akshayavata.<ref>{{cite book |author=Fanny Parks Parlby |title=Wanderings of a Pilgrim in Search of the Picturesque: During Four-and-twenty Years in the East |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fFwLAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA215 |year=1850 |publisher=Pelham Richardson |pages=215–216 }}</ref> An 18th-century map of the Fort from the [[British Library]] confirms this: the location of the original temple is shown in the center of the fort; while the present-day Patalpuri Temple is on the outskirts of the Fort. In the 1950s, [[Shiva Nath Katju]] also claimed that the "tree" placed in the Patalpuri Temple was only a log that was replaced by the priests every 4–5 years. The commander of the fort acknowledged his claim as true.<ref name="KM_2008" />

A tree at [[Vishnupad Temple, Gaya|Gaya, Bihar]]<ref name="FJSimoons_Life" /><ref>''The Sacred Complex in Hindu Gaya'', Concept. Page 9.</ref> and another tree at [[Varanasi]] are also worshipped as the Akshayavata. The [[Bodhi tree]] is said to be a manifestation of the Akashayavat at Prayag.<ref name="himalayan_kumbha">
{{cite web
| url = http://www.kumbhamelatimes.org/pointsarchive.asp?dt=1/12/2001
| title = Akshaya Vata: The Eternal Banyan Tree
| publisher = The Himalayan Institute
| date = 2001-12-01
| access-date = 2011-03-15
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051102044357/http://www.kumbhamelatimes.org/pointsarchive.asp?dt=1%2F12%2F2001
| archive-date = 2 November 2005
| url-status = dead
| df = dmy-all
}}
</ref>

According to Tibetan Buddhist tradition, [[Buddha]] is said to have planted a seed of the Prayag's Akshayavata next to [[Mount Kailash]] on a mountain known as the Palace of the Medicine Buddha.<ref name="himalayan_kumbha" />

== See also ==

* [[Ashvattha]], mythological world tree
* [[Kalpavriksha]], a mythological, wish-fulfilling divine tree

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Worship in Hinduism}}

[[Category:Sacred trees in Hinduism]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Prayagraj]]
[[Category:Hindu mythology]]
[[Category:Trees in mythology]]
[[Category:Individual banyan trees]]

Akshayavata - Revision history

Babakigadi123 at 06:27, 3 October 2025