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Sri Lanka Sri Lanka notable tree

Sri Maha Bodhi

Mr Jörg Reuter · CC BY 2.0

55% trees around it and 143 species recorded.

60Forestyas Score

Notable treeBirds

  • trees within 3 km55%
  • wild within 10 km82%
  • species recorded143
  • Altitude89 m

The forest around

55% trees.

Read like the rings of a cut trunk: from the centre out, the land within 1, 3, 6 and 10 km, coloured by what covers it.

Trees 58%Grassland 15%Water 1%Bare ground 1%Cropland 20%Built-up 5%Trees 55%Grassland 9%Water 13%Cropland 12%Built-up 10%Trees 66%Grassland 11%Water 8%Cropland 12%Built-up 4%Trees 61%Grassland 20%Water 0%Cropland 18%Built-up 1%55%trees · 3 km

Trees, ring by ring

  • 0–1 km58%
  • 1–3 km55%
  • 3–6 km66%
  • 6–10 km61%

What covers the land (1–3 km)

  • Trees55%
  • Grassland9%
  • Water13%
  • Bare ground0%
  • Cropland12%
  • Built-up10%

ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m, from Sentinel satellites), sampled every 120 m. A clearing, a road or a lake counts as what it is.

Who lives here

143 species recorded.

The plants, fungi, birds and mammals people have recorded here most often.

Peepul Tree
Peepul TreeFicus religiosa4 recordsBurkhard Mücke · CC BY-SA 4.0
Sacred lotus
Sacred lotusNelumbo nucifera2 recordsT.Voekler · CC BY-SA 3.0
Purging Cassia
Purging CassiaCassia fistula2 recordsDelonix · CC BY-SA 3.0
Indian banyan
Indian banyanFicus benghalensis2 recordsAhoerstemeier · CC BY-SA 3.0

Open records within 2 km (GBIF, licensed for any use). Busy places are better recorded than remote ones.

In numbers

The forest, measured.

60out of 100

Our own rating, from open data only: tree cover (40 points), wildness (20), species recorded (30) and protection or heritage (10).

  • 55%Treesof the land within 3 km
  • 82%Wildno towns or farmland within 10 km
  • 143Speciesrecorded more than once within 2 km
  • 89 mAltitudeabove the sea

When to walk

Best for walking in January and from June to July.

How good each month is for a walk: mild days and little rain make the bar taller.

  1. Jan28°20°89 mm
  2. Feb30°20°69 mm
  3. Mar33°22°68 mm
  4. Apr33°24°118 mm
  5. May32°24°98 mm
  6. Jun32°24°24 mm
  7. Jul32°24°29 mm
  8. Aug32°24°52 mm
  9. Sep32°24°74 mm
  10. Oct31°23°220 mm
  11. Nov29°22°279 mm
  12. Dec28°22°244 mm
  • Bar: walking comfort; the number on top is the average maximum.
  • Below: average minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
  • Rain: monthly total.

The place

Sri Maha Bodhi.

Holy tree in Sri Lanka

Sri Maha Bodhi is a notable tree in Sri Lanka.

Seen from space, 55% of the land within 3 km is trees, and 82% of the land within 10 km has no towns or farmland.

143 species have been recorded around it: 4 plants, 0 fungi, 134 birds and 5 mammals.

The most recorded plants are: Peepul Tree, Sacred lotus and Purging Cassia.

The best time to walk is in January and from June to July.

Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi
Mr Jörg Reuter · CC BY 2.0

Get there and walk

Plan the visit

A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire at CMB airport (Colombo)Discover CarsSee prices 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above

The forest and its surroundings.

The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the trails, notable trees, picnic sites and huts that OpenStreetMap shows.

Sri Maha Bodhi seen from above (Sentinel-2)
Seen from above: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6 × 6 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around, in OpenStreetMap

  • 2named and notable trees within 6 kmJaya Sri Maha Bodhi, Prarthana Bodhiya
  • 2shelters and huts within 6 km
  • 3viewpoints within 5 kmKapara Mulaya, Abhayagiriya Museum
  • 28car parks within 3 km
  • 1campsites within 10 kmHome of Gajaba
  • 120places to stay within 10 kmDutugamunu Pilgrims Rest, Lievi's, Senowin Holiday Resort - Villa Senowin and 117 more
  • 47restaurants and cafés within 3 km
  • marked trails within 5 km
  • picnic sites within 4 km
  • visitor centres within 6 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.

In our other atlases

Around Sri Maha Bodhi.

The mountains, lakes, rivers, waterfalls and canyons around this forest, the viewpoints above it, the birds and the night sky, in the family's atlases.

Peakyas3 mountains within 25 km
Mihintale13 kmKottakanda20 kmKurulupetagala22 km
Islandyasthe island
Sri Lanka67,655 km²
Lakeyas7 lakes within 15 km
Basawakkulama Wewa0.7 km² · 1.2 kmTissa Wewa2.2 km² · 1.9 kmPahala Kurundankulama Wewa9.6 km² · 3.3 kmPuliyankulama Wewa0.6 km² · 5.1 kmPahala Talawa Wewa0.6 km² · 12 kmTuruwila Wewa2.0 km² · 14 kmNachchaduwa wewa13 km² · 15 km
Riveryasthe river nearby
Malvathu River164 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Photographs

The forest, as people saw it.

Bodhi Tree Image House Buddha 2021
Leopold Jena · CC BY-SA 4.0
Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi - Arbre sagrat
Josep Renalias Lohen11 · CC BY 4.0
Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi 02
Cherubino · CC BY-SA 3.0

Other forests nearby.

Sri Maha Bodhi

Sri Lanka

  • 60Forestyas Score
  • 55%Trees
  • 82%Wild
  • 143Species

Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya

Sri Lanka · 121 km

  • 85Forestyas Score
  • 88%Trees
  • 94%Wild
  • 295Species

See the guide

Galkadawela

Sri Lanka · 151 km

  • 78Forestyas Score
  • 89%Trees
  • 98%Wild
  • 80Species

See the guide

Sinharaja Forest Reserve

Sri Lanka · 234 km

  • 79Forestyas Score
  • 96%Trees
  • 99%Wild
  • 23Species

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name and typeWikidata (Q944175) · CC0
Land coverESA WorldCover 10 m 2021 v200 · © ESA WorldCover project / Copernicus Sentinel data · CC BY 4.0
Species4,111 open records within 2 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only)
See these recordsgbif.org
Names and photosWikidata (CC0); GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
AltitudeCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Temperature and rainNASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2)
What is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Sister atlasesPeakyas, Islandyas, Lakeyas, Riveryas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit
viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit
birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Visit
forestsForestyasEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.You are here