The Amazing Ancient Roots of Bonsai

The amazing part is the discovery of dramatic new evidence that traces the roots of bonsai back thousands of years before what is commonly believed. Conventional wisdom holds that bonsai originated in China between 1,000 to 2,000 years ago [note 1], but as my mentor Yuji Yoshimura said, "The early history of bonsai is a subject of some dispute.” [note 2] That statement may no longer be true.

The dispute Yoshimura mentioned is fueled simply by a lack of evidence documenting the early history of bonsai. My field is plant geography, which studies the myriad relationships of people and plants over place and time; yet plant geography is a science, and science demands evidence. The evidence I seek is to answer the big questions under the umbrella of bonsai: how, when, and where did these tree-dwarfing arts originate, disseminate to other cultures, and evolve into their modern forms?

So, how old is the art of bonsai? It depends on how you define bonsai. To traditionalists like me, bonsai, i.e., classical bonsai, is a distinct Japanese art. For this article, however, I use non-italicized bonsai in its vernacular sense, as an umbrella term that covers Japanese bonsai, Chinese penjing, Thai mai dat, and other formal tree-dwarfing arts, each with their own distinct forms, techniques, and relatively recent histories.

To wit, an unidentified past president of India reputedly said, “…thousands of years before the art-loving Japanese stumbled upon their bonsai, the Science of Dwarfing Trees for an altogether different purpose was known in ancient India as Vaamantanu Vrikshaadi Vidya (Vaaman – dwarfed, tanu – body, Vrishshaadi – of trees, and Vidya – science…)” [note 3]. It was purportedly practiced by Ayurvedic physicians in ancient India to create potted miniature versions of medicinal forest trees so that their five healing parts can be kept on hand as a living portable pharmacopeia. I used the terms “reputedly” and “purportedly” advisedly because neither the statements nor their source could be verified. I have yet to find, as we cultural geographers require, a preponderance of evidence to support the past president’s statements.

Nonetheless, Vaamantanu Vrikshaadi Vidya references are common in bonsai literature and on the Internet. Most authors who mention this science place the practice in the 12th or 13th Century CE, although some have staked much older claims that date the practice as far back as 2500 BCE [note 4]. Unfortunately, the failure of all but a couple of authors to document their information is equally common. Such failure may be forgivable in journalism or non-fiction, but in scientific research it is a cardinal sin.

I was perplexed. The original article that described Vaamantanu Vrikshaadi Vidya was published in 1970! Why had no one yet uncovered and cited the original source, the ancient text, the vidya that would describe this Science of Tree Dwarfing and confirm its reputed antiquity? Undismayed, I plunged into the sea of Ancient India’s sacred tomes seeking proof—the Vedas, the Brahmanas, the Upanishads, and more. I learned many fascinating things about Ancient India and vidyas but uncovered nothing specific on this Science of Tree Dwarfing.

Internet groups devoted to Indian culture and history, such as Ayurveda, Bonsai, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Archaeology seemed to be fertile ground for research; but almost all of my posted queries on the science or subject of tree dwarfing went unanswered. I pestered every academic I could find on the subject and again I learned much, but nothing to do with Vaamantanu Vrikshaadi Vidya. Searches for the term on the Internet released torrents of redundant results, more than 15,000 at the last count. It did not seem to matter that the Romanized spelling of the Sanskrit name adds or drops vowels, e.g., sometimes it is Vamanatanu Vrikshadi Vidya or the simpler Vamantanu Vrikshadi Vidya. I searched on every variation and never found a citation referring to any of the ancient texts.

Then, one of the few Indian bonsai practitioners who responded to my relentless queries informed me that Vaamantanu Vrikshaadi Vidya in any form is not correct, and that bonsai enthusiasts in India do refer to their art as bonsai, but also call it Vaman Vriksha Kala, where Vaman = dwarfed, Vriksha = of trees, and Kala = art, i.e., the Art of Tree Dwarfing.

At first, I was thrilled when my subsequent search for this art turned up an article titled Vaman Vriksha Kala – An Indian’s Ancient Art of Bonsai [note 5], but it had me chasing my tail again. It declared that “In the 12th Century India, Bonsai was known as Vamanatanu Vrikshadi Vidya, which translates as the science of dwarfing trees.” This redundant description also lacked a citation, which turned my thrill into despair. I was back to the beginning, but at least I had a new term to unearth, Vaman Vriksha Kala. With only a bit of digging I struck this vein of tree-dwarfing gold:

  “…Vaman Vriksha Kala, authored by Goa Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai…contains detailed information on Bonsai with details like common and scientific names, life span and tree information. The main intention of the book written by the Governor is to firmly establish that Bonsai is originally an Indian art, as against the widely held belief that it belongs to China and Japan.”[note 6] The good Governor actually cited ancient Indian literature sources that mention tree-dwarfing techniques, a few of which are copied below.

“Take a tree which is not too small, pierce its trunk and put a little fire. Later, apply a mixture of ghee, cow dung, rock salt, honey and meat (goat) at that part. After this, prune the roots of the said plant, tie the secondary root (cotton/cloth) and after submerging it with water mixed with milk, beautiful branches will start developing on it and even after being wamanakar, that is, dwarf in size, that plant starts bearing fruits at its prescribed age.” [note 7]

“If a banyan tree sapling taken from a matured tree with four prop roots is developed in algae coal and fertilized with milk, then it will be dwarfed in size.” [note 8]

“Trees can be converted into creepers,
Trees can remain dwarfed…” [note 9]

Pillai’s citations for these quotes attribute them to the Vrykshayurveda, an ancient Indian treatise on the cultivation of plants by Surapala c. 1000 CE. Practices have obviously been refined, but the significance of these notations is their demonstration that techniques had been developed in Ancient India to miniaturize trees.

Governor Pillai also stated that, “During the reign of Emperor Ashoka, who adopted and spread Buddhism throughout his vast empire and even to other countries, there is evidence of inscriptions depicting trees on the panels of the Stupa at Sanchi which has been interpreted by some of the Bonsai artists as proof of the existence of the art of potted trees.” [note 10]

The Great Stupa at Sanchi is a UNESCO World Heritage site in the Indian state of Madya Pradesh. It is believed to have been constructed by Ashoka and that the last modifications to it were completed by the 1st Century CE. A large ceremonial gate (torana), covered with images carved in stone, is located at each cardinal point.

The Stupa at Sanchi.

(Dmitry Rukhlenko/Adobe Stock 96023640)

Dozens of images of potted dwarfed trees festoon the toranas of the Sanchi stupa, but the trees are not in static relief. Their presence on a stupa confirms their spiritual significance, and the depictions themselves portray the trees as objects of worship, as in this image:

A carving on a Sanchi torana.

(Dmitry Rukhlenko/Adobe Stock 58100235)

I followed Governor Pillai’s path a step farther and found the image below from Gandhara CE 100s-200s. Considering that Japanese bonsai specimens of this large size are documented to be several hundred years old, it is reasonable to surmise that a “bonsai” of this size could have been  created during the 1st Millenium BCE, more than 2,500 years ago, when ritualistic Indian tree-dwarfing practices were apparently well established.

Siddhartha at the Bodhi Tree, AD 100s–200s, Pakistan, Gandhara, Schist.

(73.7 x 57.2 cm (29 x 22 1/2 in.) Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1997.151, Cleveland Museum of Art.)

Back to Vaamantanu Vrikshaadi Vidya, Koreshoff suggested that “while practices such as those related may have influenced the starting of the art of bonsai, the main reasons for growing of such container plants seem to be associated with medicine and food rather than for any appreciation of form and beauty.” [note 11] On the contrary, miniaturization in Ancient India was more than simply making something small. It increased the mystique, magic, or power of gods, objects, and sacred trees.

On a much deeper level than appreciation of form and beauty, the trees depicted on the Great Stupa at Sanchi had been revered for centuries as embodiments or symbols of gods. The dwarfed trees in the engravings above depict the “pipal” (Ficus religiosa), otherwise a large forest tree which is historically sacred to Hindus and Buddhists. Pipal trees were worshipped as the manifestation of the supreme being Vishnu as far back as the 4th Millenium BCE in the Indus Valley civilization of Harappa. [note 12]

The importance of this element of tree dwarfing cannot be underemphasized. The mystical concept springs from Pre-Buddhist Indian reverence for miniaturization not as limitation, but as revelation, and it is the main characteristic that distinguishes trees reared under the bonsai umbrella from potted plants grown for food, medicine, or mere ornamentation. Bonsai in its best forms evokes the impression of larger mature landscape or forest trees—therein lies its mystique and the ancient roots of bonsai.


  1. Zhao, Q. (aka Zhao Qingquan), Penjing: The Chinese Art of Bonsai. New York: Better Link Press, 2012, pg. 31.
  2. Yoshimura, Y., The Japanese Art of Miniature Trees and Landscapes. Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1978, pg. 18.
  3. Davis, M., “Ancient Hindu Bonsai” in Bonsai Society of Australia Newsletter, June 1970, pp. 6 & 8, quoted in Koreshoff, D. 1984. Bonsai: Its Art, Science, History and Philosophy, pg. 2. Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
  4. Chiplis, Dan, “Chronology of Container Tree Development” in Appendix A of Aufschläger, F. “Bonsai Containers as Ceramic Art” in Potomac Bonsai Association Clippings, 29.1, Feb./Mar. 1999.
  5. “Vaman Vruksha kala – An Indian’s Ancient Art of Bonsai.” https://www.bonsainamaste.com/vaman-vruksha-kala-indians-ancient-art-bonsai/. Accessed 10/25/2024.
  6. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/no-power-on-earth-can-deprive-our-population-of-fundamental-human-rights-vice-president-dhankar-9020736/. The Indian Express, Nov. 19, 2023.
  7. Pillai, P.S., p. 17, quoting Vrskshayurveda, Slokas 261–264, pp. 132–133.
  8. Pillai, P.S., p. 19.
  9. Pillai, P.S., p. 23.
  10. Pillai, P.S., p. 27.
  11. Koreshoff, p. 2.
  12. Sinha, Dr. B.C., Tree Worship in Ancient India. New Delhi: Books Today, 1979, p. 32.
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