[5] The sacred fig is considered to have a religious significance in four major religions that originated on the Indian subcontinent: Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism.

[7] Ficus religiosa is native to most of the Indian subcontinent – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan and India including the Assam region, Eastern Himalaya and the Nicobar Islands, as well as part of Indochina – the Andaman Islands, Thailand, Myanmar and Peninsular Malaysia.

It grows on a wide variety of soils but preferably needs deep, alluvial sandy loam with good drainage.

In India, being a native species, it occurs both naturally in wild as well as cultivated up to altitudes of 1,520 metres (4,990 ft).

[citation needed] Ficus religiosa is tolerant to widely varying climatic conditions such as Tropical rainforest climate where the region receives more than 60 millimetres (6.0 cm) of precipitation per month, Tropical monsoon climate where average precipitation ranges from 60 millimetres (6.0 cm) in the driest month to 100 millimetres (10 cm), Tropical savanna climate with dry summer where average precipitation ranges from 60 millimetres (6.0 cm) per month in summers to 100 millimetres (10 cm) per month in winters, Tropical savanna climate with dry winter where average precipitation ranges from to 60 millimetres (6.0 cm) per month in winters to 100 millimetres (10 cm) per month in summers, Warm temperate climate with dry winter where average temperature ranges from 0 to 10 °C (32 to 50 °F) and winters are dry, as well as Warm temperate climate with dry summer where average temperature ranges from 0 to 10 °C (32 to 50 °F) and summers are dry.

[clarification needed] Such a high score predicts it will become a major pest in suitable climate zones.

The major reasons for its invasive behaviour are its fast-growing nature, tolerance to various climate zones and soil types, reported lifespan of over 3,000 years, and its suffocating growth habit as it often begins life as an epiphyte.

[citation needed] The earliest known record of Ficus religiosa in human culture is the use of peepal leaf motifs in the pottery of the Helmand culture, found at Mundigak site, in Kandahar, Afghanistan, dating back to third millennium BCE.

"[11] In India, the medal for the highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna, is modelled on the leaf of a Peepal tree.

The Bodhi Tree is said to represent Pushya (Western star name γ, δ and θ Cancri in the Cancer constellation).

In the Philippines and in Nicaragua the species is cultivated in parks and along roadsides and pavements, while in Paraguay it occurs in forests at lower elevations.

[15] In Thailand โพ or "Pho" trees grow everywhere, but in the wats (temples) they are revered, and usually are several hundred years old, with trunks up to 20 feet (6.1 meters) wide.

A yearly ritual involving the bo trees at wats is the purchasing of "mai kam sii" ไม้คำ้ศริ, which are "supports" that look like crutches and are placed under the spreading branches as if holding them up.