Ceremonial wedding of the Tulsi plant to Vishnu as Shaligram; opens the Hindu wedding season

Tulasi Vivah is the ceremonial marriage of the holy basil plant, Tulsi, to Lord Vishnu in the form of the Shaligram stone or to Krishna, performed between Prabodhini Ekadashi and Kartika Purnima, most often on Dwadashi. The Puranas tell that Tulsi was once Vrinda, the chaste and devoted wife of the asura king Jalandhar, whose power came from her virtue. When the gods could not defeat him, Vishnu took Jalandhar's form and broke her vow of chastity; Jalandhar was killed. Discovering the deception, Vrinda cursed Vishnu to become a stone — the Shaligram — and gave up her life; from her ashes grew the tulsi plant. Vishnu blessed her to be forever worshipped and declared he would marry her as Shaligram, and that no worship of his would be complete without tulsi. The wedding is performed exactly like a Hindu marriage: the tulsi pot is decorated as a bride with a red sari, bangles and a mangalsutra, a sugarcane mandap is built, and the Shaligram or Krishna is brought as the groom, followed by kanyadaan, the tying of the knot, pheras, and a feast. Childless couples often perform the kanyadaan of Tulsi. The day marks the start of the wedding season.

Those performing kanyadaan fast until the wedding.