TULSI MANDIR, JALANDHAR

Tulsi Mandir is located at Jalandhar in Punjab state.Tulsi Mandir, popularly known as Vrinda Devi Temple, was built in the memory of Vrinda Devi – a consort of the demon king Jalandhara. There is a tank inside this temple that earlier served as the bathing place of the demon.

Tulsi or Tulasi (Ocimum tenuiflorum) or Holy Basil is a sacred plant in Hindu belief. Hindus regard it as an earthly manifestation of the goddess Tulsi; she is regarded as a great worshipper of the god Vishnu. The offering of its leaves is mandatory in ritualistic worship of Vishnu and his forms like Krishna and  Panduraga.

History
Tulsi is known as Vrinda in Hindu scriptures. She was a beautiful princess of a demon king named Kaalnemi. She was married to Jalandhara who was a powerful part of Lord Shiva. Jalandhara had immense power because he was born out of fire from Lord Shiva’s third eye. Jalandhara fell in love with Princess Vrinda who was an extremely chaste and a devoted lady.

Vrinda was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu whereas Jalandhara hated all the Gods. Yet, the two were destined to get married. It is said that after marrying Vrinda, Jalandhara became invincible because her chastity and devotion multiplied his strength. Even Lord Shiva could not defeat Jalandhara. His arrogance grew and he aimed to become the Supreme Power of the Universe by defeating Lord Shiva.

The Gods grew insecure of Jalandhara’s growing powers. They went to Lord Vishnu for help. Lord Vishnu was in a dilemma because Vrinda was his ardent devotee and he could not do injustice to her. But, due to a threat posed by Jalandhara to all the deities, Lord Vishnu decided to play a trick.

While Jalandhara was busy in a battle with Lord Shiva, Vishnu came to Vrinda disguising as Jalandhara. Vrinda could not recognize him at first and went to greet him thinking that Jalandhara has returned. But as soon as she touched Lord Vishnu, she realized that he was not her husband. Her chastity was shattered and Jalandhara became vulnerable. Realizing her mistake, Vrinda asked Lord Vishnu to show his real form. She was shattered to see that she was tricked by her own Lord.

Seeing Lord Vishnu disguising as Jalandhara and tricking her to break her chastity, Vrinda cursed Lord Vishnu. She gave the curse that Lord Vishnu would turn into a stone. Lord Vishnu accepted the curse and he turned into the Shaligrama stone which is found near the Gandaka river. After this, Jalandhara was killed by Lord Shiva since he was not under the protection of his wife’s chastity anymore. Vrinda was also heart broken and decided to end her life.

Before Vrinda died, Lord Vishnu blessed her with a boon that she would be known as Tulsi and she would be worshipped along with Lord Vishnu. His puja will never be deemed complete without the leaf of Tulsi. Hence, since then Tulsi forms an inseparable part of Hindu rituals. The unfortunate Goddess was finally blessed and turned into a plant who resides in almost every house to bless everyone with good health.

A ceremony known as Tulsi Vivah is performed by the Hindus between Prabodhini Ekadashi (eleventh lunar day of the waxing moon of Kartika) to Kartik Poornima (full moon in Kartika), usually on the eleventh or the twelfth lunar day. It is the ceremonial wedding of the Tulsi plant to Vishnu, in the form of his image, Shaligram or a Krishna or Rama image. Both the bride and the groom are ritually worshipped and then married as per traditional Hindu weddingrituals. It marks the end of the four-month Chaturmas period, which corresponds to the monsoon and is considered inauspicious for weddings and other rituals, so the day inaugurates the annual marriage season in India