Tulsi Vivah (Tulsi Kalyanam) 2074

Tulsi Vivah (तुलसी विवाह), known in the South as Tulsi Kalyanam, is the ceremonial marriage of Tulasi Devi, the sacred basil plant, to Lord Vishnu in the form of Shaligrama or Krishna. It is celebrated in Kartika, right after Prabodhini (Devuthana) Ekadashi, when Lord Vishnu awakens from his four-month yoga-nidra.

The Tulasi plant is decorated as a bride, with a red cloth, bangles and a mangalsutra, and the wedding is performed with the same rites as a human marriage: kanyadana, mangal pheras around the plant and the offering of sweets. Families without daughters often perform it as their kanyadana.

Tulsi Vivah marks the close of Chaturmasa and the start of the wedding season in many parts of India.