Mangalore: ‘Tulsi Puja’, a Rich Tradition of Prostrating before Mother Nature
by Manju Neereshwallya
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Oct 30: Like the reverred ‘Nagabana’, Tulunadu in unison, performs the ‘Tulsi puja’ on Utthana Dwadashi day. On the evening of Friday October 30, people of all walks of life will perform this year's Tulsi puja by painting the Talsi platform, performing Arati, singing Bhajans, and distributing Prasadam in the form of a sweet made of beaten rice. After observing fast the previous day, people normally eat sweet Dosa (Surnali in local parlance) on the morning of Dwadashi. The Tulsi plant is decorated like a bride and is then married to the idol of Lord Krishna of the gooseberry plant.

Tulsi plant (holy basil) finds a permanent place in the courtyards of almost all the houses in the Tulunadu.

As per mythology, Tulsi was the wife of a demon called Jalandhar. Because of her austerities, total devotion and loyalty to her husband, her husband gets immense power, and hence could not be killed by even gods, who try to annihilate him because of his evil deeds. To save the good from evil Jalandhar, Lord Vishnu, at the request of the gods, approaches Tulsi by appearing in the physical form of Jalandhar. When Tulsi touches Lord Vishnu, thinking him to be Jalandhar returning from war, her loyalty to her husband gets diluted, and Jalandhar is killed in the war.

An angered Tulsi curses Lord Vishnu before immolating herself by sitting on a pyre, saying that he would suffer separation from his wife in future. This curse comes true in Ramayana. It is said that Lord Vishnu took the form of Indian gooseberry and married Tulsi, who had taken the form of holy basil, as per Lord Vishnu's blessings. Tulsi thereafter, took birth as Rukmini and married Krishna incarnation of Lord Vishnu. This marriage had occurred on the twelfth day of the waxing moon half of Kartika month. To commemorate this occasion, the marriage of Tulsi plant is conducted with the gooseberry plant on Utthana Dwadashi Day.

It is believed that Lord Vishnu, who goes to sleep after taking hot bath on Naraka Chaturdashi day, gets up on Utthana Dwadashi day. Irrespective of the mythological importance of the occasion,  the existence of  Tulsi plant in the nature needs to celebrated and rich tributes need to be paid to it, because of the multifarious benefits people derive from it, right from the use of its twigs for religious occasions, as an effective medicine for various ailments, as a repellant for mosquitoes, for beauty treatments etc.