Tulsi Vivah

    On the twelfth day of the bright half of Kartik this feast is celebrated. Jalandhar was a famous warrior. By defeating the gods he had made his fellow demons happy. Vrinda was his faithful wife. Because of her virtue Jalandhar had become invincible in the three worlds. The gods tried to find a stratagem to defeat him. They deceived Vrinda with the false news that her husband had been killed in battle. The severed head and body of two monkeys were put in front of her, and she believing it to be her husband’s dead body was plunged in grief. Then a sadhu came and by reciting some mantras he joined again the head and the body, and Vishnu looking exactly like Jalandhar stood in front of her. Think-ing in her excitement that it was her resuscitated husband she embraced him. But then realizing her mistake, she lost her virtue for having touched the body of another man. And after Vrinda had lost her holiness Jalandhar was really killed in war.
    When Vrinda came to know the truth, she was wild and cursed Vishnu, “Your wife will be taken away from you and you will have to ask help from monkeys to recover her.” This curse was literally realized when Vishnu took avatar as Rama. After this Vrinda prepared the pyre for her husband and jumped into the fire. The practice of a widow burning herself with her dead husband is known as “sati”. Vishnu was very sorry because as a result of his deceit the poor widow committed suicide. He remained like mad sitting at the side of the pyre. To remove his madness the gods planted three trees in the cremation ground, a tulsi (holy basil) an “avala” (Phyllantus emblica), and a “malti” (jasmine). Of these three trees the “tulsi” became very dear to Vishnu because like Vrinda she is endowed with all qualities.
    Even though by mistake, Vrinda had for an instant believed Vishnu to be her husband. Therefore when Vishnu took avatar as Krishna, Vrinda took avatar as Rukmini, and on the 12th day of the bright half of Kartik they got married. On this day the special place where the “Tulsi” is kept, known as “Vrindavan”, is smeared with cow dung. Sugarcane is buried in it, and “avale” (fruits of the avali” tree) and wet “chinch” (fruits of the tamarind tree) are put on it. Round the vrindavan a pandol is raised with sugarcanes. Then while reciting stanzas, the marriage between the “tulsi” and the idol of Vishnu is performed, and “lahya”, “kurmure” (parched rice) and pieces of sugarcane are distributed to those present.
    The Tulsi or Holy Basil is a venerated plant. Some people keep a tulsi in front of the house on a specially made stand called Tulsivrindavan.