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Holy basil - spiritual
Holy basil is the most sacred plant in the Hindu religion, and is found in or near almost every Hindi house throughout India. It is frequently grown in courtyards and temples and is believed to protect from misfortune and sanctifies and guides to heaven all who cultivate it.
Symbolism
Holy basil represents purity, serenity, harmony, luck, happiness and good health. It is given the Sanskrit name 'tulsi' which means 'incomparable'. The Brahmins hold it sacred to the gods Krishna and Vishnu. The story goes that this plant is the transformed nymph Tulasi, beloved of Krishna. For this reason the plant is cultivated in pots of brick pillars with hollows at the top in which earth is deposited. It is daily watered and worshipped by all members of the family.
To promote well-being and encourage the grace of the goddess as a living presence in the home, many Indian women begin the day by offering blessed water to the plant, walking around it and praying before it.
Offerings to all the Hindu deities are deemed complete if they involve the use of holy basil leaves. In the Vrat Kaumudi, one of the sacred books of the Hindus, a ceremony called the tulashi laksha vrat is ordered to be performed when a vow is made. Holy basil leaves are used in offerings to Krishna.
Nayavad is another ceremony among Hindus which involves taking a brass dish containing cooked food, and placing it before the god in a square marked out on the ground. The worshipper squats on a low stool, and taking two leaves of holy basil in his right hand, he closes his eyes with his left, dips the leaves in the water, and throws one upon the food and the other on the god.
Holy basil is also used in Hindu weddings and funerals. The marriage season in India is traditionally launched by ceremonies celebrating holy basil. One of these is a wedding ceremony called Tulsi Vivah. Here the plant is symbolically married to Shaligram carved from a semi-precious stone which represents Vishnu. This takes place in the month of Kartikka of the lunar calendar, around mid-October.
Under good conditions, holy basil can grow to a considerable size with a woody stem large enough to make beads for the rosaries used by Hindus on which they count the number of recitations of their deity's name.
Home and ceremonial use
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| Three religious mendicant couples. The man carrying five pots of tulsi on his head is a devotee of Shitala. |
Offerings to all the Hindu deities are deemed complete if they involve the use of holy basil leaves. In the Vrat Kaumudi, one of the sacred books of the Hindus, a ceremony called the tulashi laksha vrat is ordered to be performed when a vow is made. Holy basil leaves are used in offerings to Krishna.
Nayavad is another ceremony among Hindus which involves taking a brass dish containing cooked food, and placing it before the god in a square marked out on the ground. The worshipper squats on a low stool, and taking two leaves of holy basil in his right hand, he closes his eyes with his left, dips the leaves in the water, and throws one upon the food and the other on the god.
Holy basil is also used in Hindu weddings and funerals. The marriage season in India is traditionally launched by ceremonies celebrating holy basil. One of these is a wedding ceremony called Tulsi Vivah. Here the plant is symbolically married to Shaligram carved from a semi-precious stone which represents Vishnu. This takes place in the month of Kartikka of the lunar calendar, around mid-October.
Under good conditions, holy basil can grow to a considerable size with a woody stem large enough to make beads for the rosaries used by Hindus on which they count the number of recitations of their deity's name.
