Tulsi Vivah 2019: Date, Puja Vidhi, Mahurat, Vrat Katha and all you need to know

Tulsi Vivah is an auspicious Hindu festival celebrated to honour the marital union of Lord Vishnu with Tulsi (Basil) plant. Tulsi plant is believed to be an incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi and is considered very sacred and dear to Lord Vishnu. The plant holds great importance in the Hindu religion. It symbolises purity, promotes longevity and happiness.

The plant is worshipped as a goddess in the Hindu religion and in some parts, also considered as a consort of Lord Vishnu. Any marriages, puja or religious event in Hindu religion is incomplete without the use of Tulsi leaves.

Tulsi Vivah is celebrated on the 12th day of the Hindu lunar cycle or Dwadashi during the Shukla Paksha in the month of Karthik. This puja is mostly celebrated after Diwali , falling in the month of October or November. This puja is mostly performed by married women to pray for marital bliss. Unmarried women also observe this day to get good husbands.

Date
This year this festival will be celebrated on November 8 and 9. The shubh mahurat will start on November 8 and it will end on November 9.

Subha Mahurat
The subh mahurat to celebrate this festival are:
Sunrise: November 09, 2019 6:40 am
Sunset: November 09, 2019 5:40 pm
Dwadashi Tithi starts: November 08, 2019 12:24 pm
Dwadashi Tithi ends: November 09, 2019 2:39 pm


Puja Vidhi
You can perform the puja either in a temple or at home. Women on this day usually observe a day long fast, breaking it in the evening, after performing the puja.

First of all, the Tulsi plant is bathed with water and an idol of Lord Vishnu is cleaned and decorated with garlands and flowers. The Tulsi plant is decorated like a bride. A red cloth is wrapped around the plant and put other items like bangles, jewellery, and bindi near it. Then a thread is tied to link Lord Vishnu and the Holy Tulsi.

Fruit and flowers are offered, followed by aarti. At the end of the ceremony, people shower flowers and rice on the couple and prasad is distributed among the people.

Vrat Katha
As per legends, there was a demon king named Jalandhar, who was famous for his ill act, but the secret of his success was his religious wife Brinda. Brinda was a devotee of Lord Vishnu and prayed to him everyday very religiously for his husband's success and well-being.

The Gods wanted to defat Jalandhar, but they could find a solution to it, so they requested Lord Vishnu to find a solution. Lord Vishnu disguised himself as Jalandhar and fooled Vrinda by touching her, which destroyed her purity.

The Gods wanted to end this but even Lord Shiv could not defeat Jalandhar, so he requested Vishnu to find a solution. Lord Vishnu disguised himself as Jalandhar and tricked She realized it was not her husband but Vishnu. This destroyed her chastity.

After this event, Jalandhar lost the fight and died on the war field. When Brinda got to know about the trick of Lord Vishnu, she cursed him to turn into the Shaligram stone and sacrificed her life with his husband Jalandhar’s pyre.

Lord Vishnu turned Brinda's soul into a Tulsi plant and promised to marry her. Since then, this festival is celebrated by women all across India for a happy marriage.