Tulasi Vivah 2027 Date – 11 November

The story of Vrinda

Vrinda was the devoted wife of the demon king Jalandhara, and her purity made him invincible in battle against the gods. To defeat him, Vishnu took Jalandhara's form and broke her vow, and Jalandhara was killed. When Vrinda realised what had happened, she cursed Vishnu to become a stone – the Shaligram – and gave up her life. Vishnu blessed her to be reborn as the tulsi plant, worshipped in every home, and promised to marry her. Tulasi Vivah celebrates that marriage.

The start of the wedding season

During Chaturmas, the four months from Devshayani Ekadashi in Ashadha to Devutthana (Prabodhini) Ekadashi in Kartika, Vishnu is believed to sleep and Hindu weddings are generally not held. Tulasi Vivah, right after he wakes, is the first wedding of the season, and marriages start again after it. The ceremony is held on Kartika Shukla Dwadashi, though some families perform it on Ekadashi itself or on any day up to Kartika Purnima.

How the wedding is performed

The tulsi pot (tulsi vrindavan) is painted and decorated, and a canopy of sugarcane stalks is built over it. Tulsi is dressed as a bride in a red chunri, with bangles, bindi and a small mangalsutra. The groom is a Shaligram stone, or an idol of Krishna or Vishnu. The rituals mirror a Hindu wedding: the couple are joined with a sacred thread, a cloth is held between them, mangalashtak verses are sung in Maharashtra, and the bride is 'given away' – sometimes by a couple who have no daughter of their own, who consider it as meritorious as a kanyadaan.

Regional customs

• Maharashtra – mangalashtak verses, and seasonal produce such as amla, tamarind, sugarcane, sweet potato and ber offered to the couple.
• Gujarat – temples hold large ceremonies with a baraat (groom's procession) carrying the groom from one temple to another.
• Uttar Pradesh and Bihar – Devuthani Ekadashi or Dev Uthani Gyaras is celebrated with the first sugarcane of the season, and drawings of Vishnu's feet made with rice paste.
• Odisha and Bengal – tulsi is worshipped throughout Kartika with lamps lit at the plant every evening.

Tulasi Vivah puja samagri (what you need)

• Tulsi plant in a decorated pot
• Shaligram stone, or an idol or picture of Krishna or Vishnu
• Sugarcane stalks for the canopy
• Red chunri, bangles, bindi and sindoor for tulsi
• Yellow cloth for the groom
• Sacred thread or mauli
• Flowers and two garlands
• Haldi, kumkum, chandan and akshat
• Amla, ber, sweet potato and seasonal fruit
• Sweets for prasad
• Diya with ghee, camphor and incense

How to do Tulasi Vivah puja, step by step

1. Clean and decorate the tulsi pot with rangoli, and tie sugarcane stalks around it as a canopy.
2. Dress tulsi as a bride with a red chunri and suhaag items.
3. Place the Shaligram or Krishna idol beside the plant, dressed in yellow.
4. Light a diya and worship both with haldi, kumkum, chandan, akshat and flowers.
5. Exchange garlands between the two, tie them with a sacred thread and, if your family does so, walk them around the plant seven times.
6. Sing wedding songs or mangalashtak, offer fruit and sweets, and perform aarti.
7. Share the prasad; the decorated chunri and suhaag items are often given to a married woman.