Tulsi Mata · Vrinda · Haripriya
Tulsi
Tulsi, Tulsi Mata to the families who tend her, is the holy basil of the courtyard and the goddess within it, once Vrinda and ever the beloved of Lord Vishnu. Water her, light her lamp at dusk, and see when Tulsi Vivah falls in your city.
- Her day
- Thursday
- Next: Thu 5 Nov
- Next Tulsi day
- Dev Uthani Ekadashi
- In 19 days · Fri 20 Nov
Green leaves · also Rama or Lakshmi Tulsi
Shri Tulsi
The most common kind, with broad bright green leaves and a pale stem. English sources also call it “Rama Tulsi” and “Lakshmi Tulsi”, after Shri, the goddess of fortune; it is the plant most families keep.
About Tulsi →Purple leaves · also Krishna Tulsi
Shyama Tulsi
The dark kind, with leaves tinged purple and a purple stem. Its colour is likened to the dark skin of Lord Krishna, and it is held especially dear to him, so it is also called “Krishna Tulsi”. It is less common than the green.
The wild tulsi
Vana Tulsi
Vana means the forest: the tulsi that grows wild, a plant of its own kind, Ocimum gratissimum. Hindi sources also call it “Ram Tulsi”, a name English sources give to the green kind, so the names differ from place to place.
Tap a sprig, or its name, to read about that kind. The names differ from region to region: the same name can mean another kind elsewhere.
Her days, in your city
Dates and puja times for the city you pick
For New Delhi
Lord Vishnu wakes from his four months of sleep, and in the evening many families marry Tulsi to him.
- Every Thursday
- Thu 5 NovHer day of the week
- Tulsi Vivah
- Sat 21 Nov
- Kartik Purnima
- Tue 24 Nov5:25 pm to 8:06 pm
Pray to her
महाप्रसाद जननी सर्व सौभाग्यवर्धिनी।
आधि व्याधि हरा नित्यं तुलसी त्वं नमोस्तुते॥
Mahaprasad janani sarva saubhagyavardhini,
Adhi vyadhi hara nityam Tulasi tvam namostute.
Mother of the great offering, who makes all good fortune grow, who ever takes away the troubles of the mind and the ills of the body: Tulasi, I bow to you.
महाप्रसाद की जननी, सारा सौभाग्य बढ़ाने वाली, मन की चिंता और तन के रोग सदा हरने वाली तुलसी, आपको मेरा नमन।
Said as families water her and light her lamp, and at Tulsi Vivah. One guide gives it for her daily puja: after water, sindoor, turmeric and a ghee lamp, chant it once round a mala of tulsi beads. Her aarti, Jai Jai Tulsi Mata, will come with a page of its own.
Her prayers
- Jai Jai Tulsi MataTulsi Mata ki Aarti, sung at her evening lamp, through Kartika and at Tulsi VivahRead
- Shri Tulsi ChalisaForty chaupais in her praiseSoon
- Shri Tulsi NamashtakamHer eight names, from the Devi Bhagavata PuranaSoon
- Om Jai Jagdish HareThe aarti of Vishnu, sung at the end of her weddingRead
A simple daily puja at her plant
Tulsi is worshipped every day, with water in the morning and a lamp at dusk. A short and quiet puja is enough. Families keep her in many ways; follow your own where it differs.
- After your bath in the morning, pour a little water at her root, and if your family does, offer a little sindoor and turmeric.
- Many give no water on Sundays and on Ekadashi, when she is said to fast for Lord Vishnu; keep your family’s custom.
- At dusk, light a ghee lamp before her and offer flowers and incense.
- Say Mahaprasad janani, or her eight names, and walk round her as you pray.
- Sing her aarti, Jai Jai Tulsi Mata, and bow.
- If you need her leaves for worship, pick them by hand, with a prayer, before sunset.
What you need
- A tulsi plant in its pot or vrindavan
- Clean water in a small pot
- A ghee lamp
- Sindoor and turmeric
- Flowers and incense
- A mala of tulsi beads, if you chant
Prayers for the puja
Who is Tulsi
Tulsi, also Tulasi, is the holy basil that grows in the courtyards of Hindu homes, and the goddess who lives in it, Tulsi Mata to the families who tend her. Of all plants she is held the holiest. She is the beloved of Lord Vishnu, Haripriya and Vishnupriya, and many see her as a form of Goddess Lakshmi, his wife, living on earth as the plant.
In the telling most families know, she was once Vrinda, the faithful wife of the asura Jalandhara, whose strength came from her devotion. To end his war on the gods, Lord Vishnu broke her vow; Jalandhara was defeated, and Vrinda cursed Vishnu to become a stone, the shaligram. The Puranas tell the rest in different ways, but in each she becomes the tulsi, and Vishnu honours her: every year, when he wakes in Kartika, he is married to her.
In Vaishnava homes she is worshipped every day, most often by the women of the house: watered in the morning, given a lamp at dusk and walked round in prayer. A leaf of hers goes on the food offered to Lord Vishnu and Lord Krishna, garlands of her leaves hang on their images, and Vaishnavas wear and count on malas of tulsi wood.
- Tulasi her Sanskrit name, often read as the matchless one
- Tulsi Mata Mother Tulsi, as families call her
- Vrinda her name in the story of Jalandhara, which gave Vrindavan its name
- Haripriya the beloved of Hari
- Vishnupriya the beloved of Lord Vishnu
- Krishnajivani the life of Lord Krishna, one of her eight names
- Vishvapavani who makes the world pure, another of the eight
Om Tulasyai Namah
I bow to Tulasi. One list of her 108 names opens with it, and another adds Shri: Om Shri Tulasyai Namah.
Vrinda Vrindavani Vishvapujita Vishvapavani,
Pushpasara Nandini cha Tulasi Krishnajivani.
Vrinda; she of Vrindavan; worshipped by all the world; who makes the world pure; the essence of flowers; the giver of joy; Tulasi; the life of Krishna. The Devi Bhagavata Purana gives these eight names, and blesses whoever says them.
Tulsi Vivah, Kartika and her days
When families worship her most
Tulsi Vivah
Her wedding to Lord Vishnu, the shaligram, in the bright half of Kartika. The plant is dressed as a bride in a red chunri, a canopy of sugarcane is raised over her, and she is married with the rites of a Hindu wedding. With it the season of weddings begins.
Dev Uthani Ekadashi
The bright eleventh day of Kartika, when Lord Vishnu wakes from the four months of Chaturmas. Families fast, wake him at dusk with bells and the conch, and many marry Tulsi to him that same evening; others hold the wedding the next day.
Kartika, her month
Through the whole month of Kartika a lamp is lit before her every evening and her aarti is sung. The month ends at Kartik Purnima, the full moon, the last evening on which Tulsi Vivah is held.
Every evening
No day of the week is hers alone, and the sources differ on which are best. Her worship is daily: water in the morning, a lamp at dusk. Many give her no water on Sundays and on Ekadashi.
What her symbols mean
The tulsi vrindavan
The square altar she grows in, at the heart of the courtyard: a little Vrindavan, her grove, in every home.
Her leaves
Offered in all of Lord Vishnu’s worship, laid on his food and strung into his garlands; no part of her is thought too small to be holy.
The manjari
Her flower spikes, tiny flowers in rings up a stalk, held as holy as her leaves, her stem and her root.
The evening lamp
Lit before her at every dusk, and through Kartika most of all.
The shaligram
The sacred stone found in the river Kali Gandaki, worshipped as Lord Vishnu: her groom at Tulsi Vivah, and the curse she laid on him, turned to a blessing.
The tulsi mala
Beads of tulsi wood, worn by Vaishnavas at the neck and counted in prayer, a sign of their faith.
Her stories
Across India
Punjab
At Kot Kishan Chand in Jalandhar, the old Tulsi Mandir is the temple of Vrinda Devi, the faithful wife of Jalandhara, with a tank beside it said to be his bathing place.
Braj, Uttar Pradesh
Vrindavan takes its name from the tulsi groves that once covered it, and in the courtyards and temples of Braj, Lord Krishna’s land, she is married to him at Tulsi Vivah.
Maharashtra
Tulsi Vivah is held mostly by the women of the house; a white cloth is held between bride and groom while the wedding verses are sung, then drawn away.
Goa
Every home has its tulsi vrindavan, painted for Tulsi Vivah and decked with sugarcane, tamarind and amla on the evening of Dwadashi.
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana
Here her wedding is Tulasi Kalyanam, on Ksheerabdi Dwadashi: a branch of amla, standing for Lord Vishnu, is set beside her in the vrindavan.
Saunja, Bihar
The whole village keeps her wedding as a festival of three days, from Ekadashi to Trayodashi, with a procession and a feast of fifty-six dishes.
Her temples
- Tulsi Mandir, the temple of Vrinda DeviKot Kishan Chand, Jalandhar, Punjab
- The groves of Vrindavan, named after herVrindavan, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh
- Saunja, the village of her three-day weddingSaunja, Bihar
- The Kali Gandaki, river of the shaligramMuktinath, Nepal
Questions
When is Tulsi Vivah in 2026?
Tulsi Vivah, her wedding, is on Saturday 21 November 2026 in New Delhi. Pick your city at the top of this page for its own date and muhurat.
Who is Tulsi Mata?
Tulsi, also Tulasi, is the holy basil and the goddess who lives in it. She is the beloved of Lord Vishnu, seen by many as a form of Goddess Lakshmi, and in the best-known story she was once Vrinda, the faithful wife of the asura Jalandhara. She is worshipped every day in the courtyard, and married to Vishnu at Tulsi Vivah.
What is the story of Tulsi Mata?
In the telling most families know, Vrinda’s faithfulness made her husband Jalandhara unbeatable. Lord Vishnu broke her vow so that he could be defeated, and she cursed Vishnu to become a stone, the shaligram. She became the tulsi plant, and Vishnu promised to marry her: Tulsi Vivah keeps that promise every year. The Puranas tell it in different ways.
Which day is Tulsi’s?
She is worshipped every day, with water in the morning and a lamp at dusk, and her great days are Dev Uthani Ekadashi, Tulsi Vivah and the month of Kartika. Sources differ on which weekday suits her best, so this page shows Thursday, the day it gives Lord Vishnu, her beloved.
Why is water not given to Tulsi on Sunday and Ekadashi?
It is told that on these days Tulsi keeps a fast without water for Lord Vishnu, and watering her would break it. Many families keep the rule; others add or leave out days, so follow your own custom.
When should tulsi leaves not be picked?
Many families pick none after sunset, during an eclipse or on Ekadashi, and pick what they need the day before. Leaves are taken by hand, not with the nails or a blade, and with a prayer first. Customs differ from family to family.
Why is Tulsi married to a shaligram?
The shaligram is the sacred stone worshipped as Lord Vishnu. In the story of Vrinda it was her curse that turned Vishnu to stone, and he promised to marry her when she was born again as the tulsi. Marrying the plant to the shaligram keeps that promise every year.
What are the kinds of tulsi?
Most homes grow the green kind, “Shri Tulsi”, with broad bright leaves, or the purple kind, “Shyama Tulsi”, held especially dear to Lord Krishna. “Vana Tulsi” is the wild one, a plant of its own. The names differ by region: one name, “Ram Tulsi”, means the green kind in some places and the wild one in others.
Is Vrindavan named after Tulsi?
Yes. Vrinda is a name of the tulsi, and Vrindavan is the vana, the forest, of vrinda, named after the groves of tulsi that grew there. The altar in which a home’s tulsi grows is called a vrindavan after it.