Bonsai, lit.

'tray
planting',
pronunciation (help·info))[1] is
the Japanese
pronunciation of the Sino-
Japanese word . It is an
Asian art form using
cultivation techniques to
produce small trees in
containers that mimic the
shape and scale of full size
trees. Similar practices
exist in East Asian
cultures, including the
Chinese tradition
of penzai from which the
Japanese
version Bonsai originated,
and the derivative
miniature living landscapes
of Vietnamese Hòn Non
Bộ. The Japanese tradition
dates back over a
thousand years.
The
Japanese loanword "bonsa
i" has become an umbrella
term in English, attached to many forms of potted or other plants,[2] and also on occasion to other
living and non-living things. According to Stephen Orr in The New York Times, "the term should be
reserved for plants that are grown in shallow containers following the precise tenets of bonsai
pruning and training, resulting in an artful miniature replica of a full-grown tree in nature."[3] In the
most restrictive sense, "bonsai" refers to miniaturized, container-grown trees adhering to Japanese
tradition and principles.
The purposes of bonsai are primarily contemplation for the viewer, and the pleasant exercise of
effort and ingenuity for the grower.[4] By contrast with other plant cultivation practices, bonsai is not
intended for production of food or for medicine. Instead, bonsai practice focuses on long-term
cultivation and shaping of one or more small trees growing in a container.
 India (ISO: Bhārat), also known as the Republic of India (ISO: Bhārat Gaṇarājya),[18][e] is a country
in South Asia. It is the seventh largest country by area and with more than 1.3 billion people, it is
the second most populous country as well as the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by
the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the
southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west;[f] China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the
northeast; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri
Lanka and the Maldives, while its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border
with Thailand and Indonesia.

The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE. In
the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social
stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, and Buddhism and Jainismarose.
Early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires; later peninsular Middle
Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as Southeast Asia. In the medieval
era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, and Sikhism emerged, all adding to the
region's diverse culture. Much of the north fell to the Delhi Sultanate; the south was united under
the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal Empire. In the
mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th
under British Crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later,
under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance and led to India's independence in 1947.