Tulsi Vivah 2024: What is the legend behind the festival, which marks beginning of Hindu wedding season

What is Tulsi Vivah?

Tulsi Vivah celebrates the marriage of Tulsi, or the holy basil plant (Ocimum sanctum), to Shaligram, a black stone considered a form of Lord Vishnu.

It is believed that Tulsi in a previous birth was Vrinda, daughter of an asur (loosely translated to demon) called Kaalnemi. She was married to the demon Jalandhar, who was born of water and was extremely powerful.

Vrinda was a pious and righteous woman, and thus, her devotion to her husband worked as a powerful shield around him. Jalandhar had a boon from Lord Brahma that till the time his wife was loyal to him, no one would be able to defeat him.

So, Jalandhar went about conquering the world, and the devas (gods) soon had to seek help from Lord Vishnu.

“In the Padma Purana, it is stated that Vishnu realised Jalandhar could not be stopped till Vrinda’s loyalty protected him. But for the larger good, the demon had to be killed. So Vishnu took the form of Jalandhar and went to Vrinda,” Dr Ramesh Kumar Upadhyay, president of the Bhartiya Jyotish Aadhyatm parishad in Jamshedpur, said.

Believing her husband was back from battle, Vrinda embraced Vishnu, and thus the shield of her chastity was broken. The devas then managed to kill Jalandhar. When Vrinda learnt of the trickery, she cursed Lord Vishnu that he would turn into a black stone. Vishnu accepted the curse, and further told Vrinda that she would turn into the plant Tulsi, in which form He would marry her. Tulsi would remain an object of devotion for all eternity.

Devotees perform rituals of ‘Tulsi Vivah’ at Balua ghat on the occasion of ‘Dev Uthani Ekadashi’, in Prayagraj, Tuesday, Nov 12, 2024. (PTI Photo)

Thus, on the Kartik shukla paksha ekadashi, Vishnu awakes from his four-month slumber, or chaturmas, in which period auspicious activities are suspended. He then marries Tusli, and the wedding season begins.

“It is believed that the fragrance of the Tulsi plant is actually the fragrance of Vrinda’s piety and devotion. When Vishnu and his forms are worshipped, Tulsi leaves are always part of rituals,” Upadhyay said.

What is the Shaligram stone?

Shaligram is a black stone found in the Gandki river of Nepal. In her book, ‘Shaligram Pilgrimage in the Nepal Himalayas’, anthropologist Holly Walters writes that Shaligram stones are fossils of ammonite, a type of mollusc that lived between 400 million and 65 million years ago.

Referring to the Geological Survey of India, printed in 1904, Walters further writes that Shaligram stones “date specifically from the Early Oxfordian to the Late Tithonian Age near the end of the Jurassic Period some 165-140 million years ago”.

The markings found on the Shaligram are believed to be marks of Lord Vishnu’s discus. While idols of gods need to be consecrated (pran pratishtha) before they are worshipped, Shaligram (along with Narmadeshwar, a shivling found in the Narmada river), do not need pran pratishtha, for they carry divinity within them.