Tulasī Vivāh is the ceremonial wedding of the Tulasī plant, holy basil, to Viṣṇu, who is often represented by a Śālagrāma stone. It falls the day after Prabodhinī Ekādaśī, when Viṣṇu is said to rise from his four months of yoganidrā. The legend tells of Vṛndā, whose chastity shielded her husband Jalandhara until Viṣṇu came to her in Jalandhara's form. She cursed him to become stone, was herself reborn as the Tulasī plant, and received his promise of marriage, which this day fulfils. In many North and West Indian families the wedding season opens only after this rite. How the day is fixed: The pañcāṅga takes the day on which Kārttika Śukla Dvādaśī prevails at local sunrise. This is the day after Prabodhinī Ekādaśī, also called Devutthāna Ekādaśī. Keep in mind: Some traditions hold the wedding on Ekādaśī itself, and in Mahārāṣṭra and Gujarat it may be held on any day up to Kārttika Pūrṇimā. Because the tithi is read at local sunrise, the date can differ by a day between places. This year: The 2027 date shown here is worked out from sunrise at the place you chose, so in another city the same day can fall a day earlier or later. The wedding rite: The Tulasī pot is bathed, garlanded and set in a decorated maṇḍapa, and Viṣṇu is represented by his image or a Śālagrāma. A full wedding liturgy follows, with kanyādāna, circumambulation and āratī, and a feast is shared as after a real marriage. Lamps and pāraṇa: Those who fasted on Ekādaśī break the fast on this Dvādaśī. In the evening lamps are lit around the Tulasī, and the Tulasī Aṣṭottara Śatanāmāvalī is recited. Worth remembering: Tulasī Vivāh is its own day, separate from Prabodhinī Ekādaśī the day before and from Kārttika Pūrṇimā three days later. Govardhana Pūjā and Dīpāvalī come shortly before it in the same season. Custom varies widely from house to house. In many North Indian, Marathi and Gujarati families wedding muhūrtas are fixed only after Tulasī Vivāh, a widely followed though not universal practice, while elsewhere the day is marked simply with a lamp at the Tulasī. Some keep the wedding on Ekādaśī, some on Dvādaśī, and some on any day before the full moon. The surest course is to follow what the elders of one's own house have always done.
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