Sri Tulasi Vivah Procedure

Tulasi vivah or lagna is performed in the evening at godhuli muhurta, i.e, the time when cows return in the evening after grazing. Tulasi plant is married to shaligrama. The wedding is conducted as any Hindu wedding, with the priest presiding over it and in some households, with band that usually play during wedding.

To begin with, tulasi-katti has to be cleaned and decorated. Many whitewash their tulasi-katti or paint it. Sugarcane sticks are placed at four corners of tulasi-katti and their ends tied at the top such that the knot is at the center of tulasi plant. It is purely for decoration and no significance attached to it. Amla branches are stuck in tulasi plant. The tulasi plant, is decorated like a bride with ornaments like necklace and bangles. Then haldi, kumkum is applied. Elaborate rangollis are drawn in front of tulasi-katti and oil clay lamps are lighted around tulasi-katti and in front of it. A small rangolli is drawn on the right side of tulasi-katti and offerings in the form of fruits and laddus(my mom prepares delicious besan and ground-nuts laddus) are placed on it. The tulasi-katti should have a shaligrama in it as it is with shaligrama that tulasi vivah is performed. Some also place a Krishna photo behind tulasi-katti. Once the decoration is complete, all the rituals of the wedding are performed, either by a pries or by a male member of a family. Arti, by various women folk of household is done at the end. This arti is unique. The ghee dipped wicks are placed on 15 gooseberries and arti done.

tulasi lagna 2009 - Bangalore

 

tulasi lagna 2009 - Bangalore

 

I remember, before my marriage,by the time I returned home from college and later from work, my parents would have completed all the decorations for tulasi wedding. It would be such an awesome welcoming sight. I would quickly get dressed and we all would wait for the priest to arrive.

Now contrast the above with how I now celebrate tulasi lagna in US. I miss all the grandeur associated with each festval 😦

The procedure of the wedding is detailed in Uttaradi matha panchanga as below :

The various shlokas to be recited during the wedding is not clear here. Click on the above image. It will take you to Uttaradi matha panchanga, which is in pdf format. Scroll to the 13th page of the PDF and Scroll to the end of 13th page. The tulasi vivah procedure is given against Uttana Dwadashi paragraph.

The wedding celebration is then followed by a quintessential sumptuous dinner, complete with chutney of any kind, palya, koosambri, pickle, gojju, payasa, saaru, huli, chitraanna, holige(obaattu), hapla, sandige and anna-majjige.

Tulasi lagna 2010 - habbada oota

Samuel Johnson has rightly said, “A man seldom thinks with more earnestness of anything than he does of his dinner”. I for one have no qualms about admitting this is true of  me, if it is habbada oota 🙂

Daily Tulasi Pooja Procedure

“Poojiparige parama mangalada padavitthu salahuvi”, Sri Jagannatha dasa said so in his work, Tatva Suvvalli. It means, whoever prays to tulasi devi will be blessed with good fortunes(mangala). This one small sentence says a lot about the importance of daily tulasi pooja.

It is a customary for married women to perform tulasi pooja daily, morning after bath, and in the evening.

Every morning, after cleaning the area around the tulasi brindavana or katti or katte, sprinkle water and draw rangolli. The shloka to be recited at this time is as follows :

shriyah priye shriyaavaase, nityam shridhara vallabhe |
bhaktyaadattam mayaarghyam, hi tulasi pratigruhyatam ||

 

After completing the routine morning pooja, pour water water, apply haldi, kumkum to tulasi katti and offer flowers. The shloka to be recited after offering flowers is :

yanmoole sarva tirthani yanmadhye sarva devata |
yadagre sarva vedashcha tulasi thvaam namamyaham ||

(At the base of tulasi, abhimana devatas (patron deities) of all rivers are present, in the middle all devatas are present and at the tip, all Vedas are present. I prostrate to this tulasi)

And in the evening, place an oil lamp near the brindavana.

Tulasi Dyanagalu :

1) dyayaam tulasi devi shama kamala lochanaam |
prasannaam padmakalhaara-abhaya chaturbhujaam |
kiritahaara keyura kundaladi vibushitaam |
dhavalaam sukha samhitam padma-asana nishe rushi |
tulasi devim dhaya dhaya ||

2) yaa devi sarvabhooteshu |
vishnu mayeti shabdita |
namstasyee namstasyee namoo namoo ||

Sri Tulasi Vivah Pooja / Sri Tulasi Kalyana / Tulsi Lagna (Wedding)

|| Namastulasi Kalyani, Namo Vishnupriye, Namo Mookshapradayike devi,

Namah Sarva Sampathpradayike ||

Tulasi is the most auspicious plants for Hindus. Its sanctum so universal among Hindus that all mystics and saints of any and varied spiritual traditions hold tulasi in utmost reverence. Flowers, leaves, fruits are an integral part of Hindu worship. Among the leaves which are used for Hindu worship, tulasi occupies prominent position. No worship or offering to God is complete  without a leaf of tulasi placed on it. Many Hindus beleive tulasi is very dear to Lord Vishnu and hence one can see a garland of tulasi leaves (known as tulasi-mala) around the idol of Lord Vishnu or Lord Vishnu’s various incarnations like Krishna or Rama or Narasimha. We are all familiar with this story how when Satyabhama, weighed Sri Krishna in gold, found him heavier. Upon Rukmini’s guidance, she then places a single tulasi leaf on the top of pile of gold. The scales then become all at once so heavy that even after removing all the jewels, the scales are weighed down on the side of the tulasi leaf

Various saints and haridasas have very beautifully expounded the importance of tulasi-dala (a single tulasi leaf) in worship of Lord Vishnu. Purandara dasaru has sung, “vallano hari kollano, ella sadhanaviddu, tulasi illada pooje” meaning, Sri Hari will not accept that pooja which has all items but no tulasi. Madhva saint, Sri Vyasarajateertha swamiji, has said,

“vande hoo, vandu phala, bindu-jala, vandu tulasi-dala,
vande vandanagaidare, Sri Krishna kundade phalaveeva”.

It is believed that Vishnu is present wherever tulasi is present.

tulasee kaananam yathra | yathra padma vanaani cha |
vasanthi vaishnavaa yathra | thathra sannihitho harihi ||

Vishnu will reside wherever a tulasi garden, pond with lotus flowers and pure devotees reside. Not all flowers are available round the year. But tulasi is. Thus offering a single tulasi leaf (tulasi-dala) pleases Lord Vishnu. When I had visited sri-kshetra Badri back in 2003, I saw many devotees offering tulasi made from gold to Sriman Badrinarayana. On an impulse I thought that it is more of a thanksgiving gesture toward the Lord for having fulfilled their wishes. Now I know the real reason. (and am glad I know it). God willing, next time when I make the visit, I know what I have to offer to the Lord.

No Hindu home is considered complete without a tulasi plant. As Madhva  saint, Sripadaraja swami, has said “aalayake bhooshana, tulasi vrindavana (tulasi vrindavana gives charm to one’s home) “. Mostly, tulasi is grown directly in the ground, but sometimes it is grown in a special structure, known as tulasi-katti, that allows space for placing lamps.

Tulasi-katti at my dear ajji's home in Gadag.

Tulasi is believed to have been risen during  ocean churning between the devatas and asuras.  During the ocean churning, Dhanvantri, Hindu god of medicine, is said to have emerged holding a pot containing amruta, drinking which one becomes immortal. During that time, Dhanvantri is believed to have shed tears of joy which fell in the pot containing amruta, and from that emerged the ever holy, Tulasi plant. As the plant was beautiful beyond comparison, Sri Vishnu named it as Tulasi (meaning, which can not be compared).

Tulasi is considered to be a plant incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi. The puranic legend of how goddess Lakshmi assumed a form of a plant is found in Brahma vaivarta puraana.

According to this legend, during dwapara yuga, Tulasi was a gopika in her previous birth, also by same name Tulasi. When she was with Sri Krishna , another gopika by name, Radha, cursed her to be separated from Sri Krishna and be born as a human being.

As per the curse, Tulasi, was born as a daughter of King Dharmadhwaja and Shubhamati. As their daughter was incomparable in beauty (due to the presence of goddess Lakshmi within her, which means lakshmi amsha or lakshmi sannyidhya) , they named her Tulasi, which means, incomparable.

When she reached her youth, she went to sri-kshetra Badri, to meditate Lord Vishnu. Brahma appears before her and asks her the reason for her meditation. She says that she remembers her previous birth and she is meditating to attain Lord Vishnu. Brahma says her wish will be fulfilled and that she, in this birth, has to marry a demon by name, Shakhachooda (or Jalandhar). Brahma further says that, after her marriage to this demon, because of vishnu maya, there would be circumstances which will have her to forsake her life and attain Lord Vishnu.

Tulasi marries Shakhachooda, but remains chaste and steadfast in her devotion towards Lord Vishnu. Shakhachooda prays to Lord Shiva for unparalleled strength and obtains it. He then attacks deva-loka, defeats Indra, and robs all the devas of their wealth. He takes away Kalpavriksha, Kamadhenu, chintamani, a wish fulfilling jewel, parijatha tree etc. All the devas rushed to Lord Shiva to protect them. Lord Shiva agrees to fight the demon, but repeatedly looses battle against Shankhachooda. At this juncture, sage Narada, appears and informs Lord Shiva that Shakhachooda has remained undefeated and draws strength due to the virtue of his chaste wife, Tulasi.

As Tulasi had lakshmi amsha, Lord Shiva approaches Lord Vishnu for help. Lord Vishnu assumes the form of Shakhachooda, casts spell on Tulasi and converses with her about “Trailokya vijaya kavacha”, which is a stotra(prayer) of Lord Krishna, composed by Shankhachooda himself. As Tulasi was distracted from her meditation of Lord Vishnu, at that very moment Shankhachooda looses his strength and falls dead in battle field.

Lord Vishnu then releases Tulasi from his spell. On realizing the situation, an angered Tulasi curses Lord Vishnu to turn into a stone. Accepting her curse, Lord Vishnu takes the form of stone, which is nothing but the highly venerated shaligrama.

The shaligrama can be found only in the river, Gandaki, in Nepal. After cursing Lord Vishnu to turn into a stone, Tulasi discards her body and becomes river Gandaki and her hair becomes the Tulasi plant.

Through this  story we realize that Lord Vishnu is omnipresent. To demonstrate his presence even in non-living beings, he assumes a form of a stone. And as Lord Vishnu and goddess Lakshmi, the divine couple,  are inseparable, goddess Lakshmi assumes a form of a river and a plant to be with her Lord. A river, where alone shaligrama can be found, and Tulasi plant, without which no worship of Lord Vishnu is complete.
Thus Hindu women pray to Tulasi to bestow on them “pativrata” (being loyal to husband all the time). It is a customary for all married women to water tulasi plant and offer haldi, kukum, after bath in the morning and light a oil lamp in evening.

As Lord Vishnu and Lakshmi have wed in Lord Vishnu’s various avataras as Ram and Sita or as Krishna and Rukmini, so also during Kartika maasa, on Uttana Dwadashi day, Lord Vishnu, in the form of shaligrama weds Lakshmi who is in the form of tulasi plant. This celestial wedding is a fortnight after Deepavali.

Tulasi Vivah is on uttana dwadasi which falls in kartika maasa. Kartika maasa is known as “belakina maasa”, which means the season of light. Typically we see in various temples, the rows of light in evening and people gathering to sing devotional songs. Deepavali, the festival of lights, falls in kartika maasa too. Spiritually, light is associated with knowledge or enlightenment. And Damodara(another name of Krishna), is the patron diety of this maasa. The meaning of Damodara is “rope around the belly” (dama=rope, dara=belly). Nobody can tie Sri Krishna around his belly. Only his mother, Yashoda, was able to do so. She was able to do so as she was filled with utmost love and devotion towards Sri Krishna (She thought him to be her baby and did not want him to be wandering and getting hurt). We too can tie our beloved Krishna with our unflinching devotion. Hence during tulasi vivah, we write above the tulasi-katti, “Sri kartika radha damodara praseedatu”. There is this beautiful song which tells us that we have to pray to kartika Damodara to bless us with knowledge. Unfortunately I do not know the author.

kartika damodara
kartika damodara
kartika damodara
paramarthagyana veeyo karunakara
paramarthagyana veeyo karunakara
kartika damodara, kartika damodara

sri tulasipriya, shitajana mandaara
sri tulasipriya, shitajana mandaara
sreekara, shubhakara, bhaktodhara
srigandaki shilaakhanda roopavara
shaligramne sarvakaara
kartika damodara, kartika damodara

 

• Tulasi vivah procedure
• Daily tulasi pooja procedure
• Tulasi stotra and devotional songs

|| Sri Krishnarpanamastu ||

appreciated by yogis, mystics and saints of the many and varied spiritual traditions

Navaratri

Navaratri is a major hindu festval.The wordNavaratri literally means nine nights in Sanskrit, nava meaning nine and ratri meaning nights. Any festival celebrated for nine nights in glory of any god or goddess, in a particular season, becomes navaratri of that particular god or godsess or season. For example,  if celebrated in Vasantha rutu it is Vasantha Navaratri (Sri Ram Navami is celebrated here) , if celebrated in Ashadha maasa, it is Aashadha Navaratri (devotees of Lord Vithala of Pandharpur worship him, hence it is also known as Vithala Navaratri), if celebrated in Sharad maasa, then it is known as Sharan-Navaratri.

Sharan-navaratri is the most important of all navaratris and is celebrated from the first day of month of Ashwin and culminated on the tenth day. It is known as Sharan-navaratri as it is celebrated during Sharad (beginning of winter,  month of September–October).

Many people dedicate nine nights to worshipping Goddess Durga or Shakti devi but the celebrations of Sharan-navaratri varies from region to region. Each region has been associated with a particular form of celebration so much so that the region and type of celebration can be taken in a same breath. Bengalis worship Goddess Kali, Gujaratis celebrate with garbha dance, Tamilians and few kannadigas decorate their living room with display of collection of dolls.

Navaratri is celebrated as state festval or nada-habba in Karnataka.Wodeyars, the royal family from Mysore, patronized this festival, and as such, it is celebrated with much pomp and gaiety. Many kannadigas celebrate navaratri worshipping Lord Srinivasa. Each chapter either from Sri Venkatesha Mahatme or Srinivasa Kalyana or Sri Venkatesha Parijatha is read for 9 days. Finally on 10th day or Vijayadashami, Srinivasa Kalyana is celebrated as the 10th chapter from the above revered books depict in detail, the wedding of Lord Srinivasa to Goddess Padmavathi. I do know how this tradition of dedicating Sharan-navaratri and Vijayadashami to Lord Srinivasa, has come into observance in most kannada families.  I believe, as many kannada families have Lord Srinivasa as their home-deity or mane-devaru, this tradition must have taken roots.

Many families keep nanda-deepa (lighting ghee or oil lamps and maintaining it all day and night) in their prayer rooms for all nine nights or at least for the last five or three days.Another traditional that is prevalent in families observing Sharan-navaratri dedicated to Lord Srinivasa is performing hooranada arti, hoorana being a dough made of cooking and mashing chana dal. Small dumplings are made from this hoorana, and cotton wicks soaked in ghee are placed on top of each dumplings. The wicks are lighted and arti is performed to Lord Srinivasa. After the arti, burnt wicks are separated from hoorana and given to all in the family, as a blessing.This hoorana tastes superb and I like it a lot and as a kid, I would really look forward to completion of arti 🙂

The last five days are important in my family. The first five days are observed reciting a single chapter from Srinivasa Kalyana. The next four  days, in addition to reciting from Srinivasa Kalyana, Saraswati pooja, Durga pooja are Vijayadashami are celebrated.

On the sixth day, on the onset of Moola nakshatra, Saraswati, Goddess of Konwledge and music, is invoked. This is known as Awahana Pooja. The invoking of Goddess Saraswati should be performed only if the day has Moola nakshatra. Otherwise if it falls on seventh day, both invoking and actual pooja needs to be performed. Invoking is followed by placing books, both academic and revered ones, and any musical instruments before picture of Goddess Saraswati in one’s prayer room. Next day, i.e, on seventh day, she is worshipped by reciting prayers whcih glorify her. On eighth day, all the books and musical instruments, if any, are removed from the prayer room. This is known as Visarjana pooja (visarjana means sending-away). It is on this day that many households display collection of dolls. the books,kept for worshiping, should be removed, only after Vijayadashami.

Durga ashtami is on eighth day. Goddess Durga, destroyer of all evils, is worshipped.

Saraswati and Durga pooja

Many families, invite little girls over to their homes and wash their feet, believing that there is presence of goddess Durga in each of little, innocent girls.Later they are treated with sumptuous spread. I remember going to my friend’s home on Durga-astami day. My friend’s mom would wash my feet, take to their prayer rom, say prayers, and would give me hot poori and chole and sheera.

Ayudha Pooja is on ninth day, which is known as Mahanavami. Anything which one duly uses in his profession, to earn a living , can be termed as ayudha or astra or weapon. If a person is a soldier by profession, his ayudha is gun, or if one is a doctor, he ayudha are medical instruments, or if one is a teacher, his ayudha are black board, chalk and duster or if one running a factory, then his ayudha are all the machines and tools or if one is a student, his ayudha could be a laptop, pen , pencil etc. All the ayudhas are cleaned and painted and decorated with turmeric and vermilliion and worshipped. the worshipping is followed by distribution of puffed rice, sweets and fruits. The machines can only be used next day. It is due to this reason that we do not have newspapers on ninth day as machines would not have been used the previous night. One can see buses and autos decked with huge garlands plying on the road on this day.

According to the popular legend, which I know since childhood, Arjuna, third of the five Pandava brothers, retrieved his weapons of war from the hole in the Shami tree where he had hidden it before embarking on exile. He had hidden the weapons wrapping them in a white cloth, making the weapons look like a dead body, so that nobody would steal them. After completing his exile period of 13 years including one year of Agyatavas (living incognito) before embarking on war against the Kauravas he retrieved his weapons on this day and worshipped them.  In the war that ensued, Arjuna was victorious. In accordance, all ayudhas, which we make use of to support ourselves, are worshipped.

Navaratri ends with Ayudha pooja.

The tenth day is celebrated as Vijayadashami, also known as Dasara. It is a major festival in Hinduism and one among the other major Hindu festvals, which is considered to be the most auspicious day to start anything new. There is no need to consult a astrloger or a priest for a shubh muhurat or auspicious time. The other festivals being, Akshaya-tritiya and Deepavali Bali Padya.

There are few legends which tell us why any new venture you commence on this particular day will surely be met with success.

In treta yuga, it was on this day that Sri Ram killed the demon, Ravan. The battle with Ravan proceeded to tenth day, and on tenth day of battle, Sri Ram killed Ravan. Sri Ram became vitorious on tenth day, hence the name, Vijayadashami.

In dwapara yuga, the Pandavas, after completing their exile, retrieved their weapons from Shami tree  and worshiped them on ninth day (celebrated as Ayudha pooja). They then revealed their identity and became victorious in battle against his evil cousins, Kauravas, on this day.

Exchanging of Shami leaves on Vijayadashami is considered to be very auspicious.  People do consider it be worth in gold and exchange it with warm greetings. Many households keep the leaves in their prayer room and worship it. Again the legend of Pandavas and Shami tree is quoted in support for this tradition. As Shami tree protected their weapons, and Pandavas became victorious in battle against Kauravas and got back their kingdom, it is believed that exchanging Shami leaves, on Vijayadashami, will destroy evil and will bless us with victory and wealth.

the following prayer is said when people exchange Shami leaves :

shamI shamayate paapam shamI shaTruvinaashinI
arjunasya dhanurdhaari raamsya priyadasrshinI
karishyamaaNayaatraayaa yayaakaalam sukham mayaa
tatranirviGnakrtrItvam bhava shrIraamapUjitaaa

The meaning of the above prayer, when translated line by line is as follows :

Shami destroys sins, Shami destroys enemies
(O Shami ) Arjuna, hid his weapons, Sri Rama worshipped (you)
I start my journey, let it be joyful (victorious)
(O Shami, please) make it unobstructive.

When me and brother were growing up in Hubli, it was not a big concern to get Shami leaves. We would find tress easily or the priest from the temple would give it to us. When we moved to Bangalore, we did not find Shami tree in the area we were in and had to purchase from street vendor for Rs 10, and that too just two
strands !!!

In southern Karnataka city of Mysore, Vijayadashami is a spectacle which attracts tourists from all over the world and definitely a proud moment for Karnataka.

On this day, Wodeyars, royal family from Mysore, worship Goddess Chamundeshwari atop Chamundi hills, and the Mysore palace is decked with thousands of lights. After the worship, grand elephant procession, Jambo savari, begins from the palace to a place known as Banni(Shami) -mantap, where Shami tree is worshipped. The highlight of this procession is the idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari which is carried in a golden palanquin, known as howdah, weighing over 750 kgs on top of an elephant. Click here to view the procession which was recorded in 1968. To see the grandeur of Mysore Palace, take a 3D tour by clicking here. My brother-in-law shared this awesome link. Thank you so much Gururaj mama 🙂

The grand festivities of Navaratri ends with people exchanging Shami (banni) leaves in the evening of Vijayadashami. The day after Vijayadashami is Ekadashi, the day of fasting (and hence no major cooking). It is definitely a welcome respite for wemenfolk of households, who, for ten continuous days, would have awakened very early in the morning to set up the prayer room for worshiping and then to cook delicious festival meal and then do all the household chores that follow. The celebratory mood still pervades as the day gives ample time for all people to just sit back and relax and reminiscence about Navaratri just gone by.