Tulasi (Sanskrit: तुलसी, romanized: Tulasī), Tulsi or Vrinda (holy basil) is a sacred plant in Hindu tradition.

The Devi Bhagavata Purana regards Tulasi as a manifestation of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, and the principal consort of Vishnu.

In time, Tulasi gave up all her royal comforts, and went to Badrinath to perform a penance to gain Vishnu as her husband.

When she jumped to curse him, Vishnu appeared as his true form and spoke to her, after which Tulasi joined him to depart to Vaikuntha:[5] You have been doing penance for a long time to get me as your husband.

Your body will decay and become a holy river named Gaṇḍakī; your hair will become the Tulasī plant, the leaves of which will be held sacred in all the three worlds.In regional variations of this legend, Tulasi, in her anger and grief at her husband's demise, cursed Vishnu to be turned into stone.

Angered by the outcome of the Samudra Manthana, Jalandhara wages a successful war on the devas, conquering Svarga, and ruling as a virtuous monarch.

[8] Vrinda receives an ominous nightmare where she sees her husband seated on a buffalo, the sky enveloped in darkness, and a sun without lustre.

Witnessing her slain husband return to life, Vrinda sported with him for several days, until she realised his true identity.

She cursed Vishnu that his wife, too, would be separated from him (Which happens when Sita is abducted by Ravana) and self-immolates, even as the deity attempts to stop her.

The devas invoke Prakriti, the personified force of nature, who offers them three seeds to be planted where Vishnu stays, which represent the sattva, rajas, and tamas gunas.

The seeds grow to become three plants, Dhātrī, Mālatī, and Tulasī, who are personified as three women, Svarā, Lakṣmī, and Gaurī.

[10][11][12] In a variation of this legend, Vrinda immolates herself in her husband's funeral pyre, but Vishnu ensures that she is incarnated in the form of tulasi plant upon the earth.

[13][14] A Vaishnava legend relates the origin of the tulasi to the Samudra Manthana, the churning of the cosmic ocean by the devas and the asuras.

[15] Prakash and Gupta (2011: p.2) assert that: Tulasi has been used in India for around 5000 years and is acclaimed for its healing properties of the mind, body and spirit.

A traditional prayer narrates that the creator-god Brahma resides in its branches, all Hindu pilgrimage centres reside in its roots, the Ganges flows within its roots, all deities are in its stem and its leaves, and that the most sacred Hindu texts, the Vedas are found in the upper part of the holy basil's branches.

[22] A person who waters and cares for the tulasi daily is believed to gain spiritual merit and the divine grace of Vishnu, even if he does not worship it.

In a British Indian census, North-Western Provinces recorded themselves as Tulasi worshippers and not belonging to Hindus, Muslims or Sikhs.

In this period, when a hot summer reigns, one who offers cool water to tulasi, or an umbrella to shelter it from the intense heat is believed to be cleansed of all sin.

It marks the end of the four-month chaturmasya 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.

Tulasi malas are considered to be auspicious for the wearer, and believed to connect him with Vishnu or Krishna and confer the protection of the deity.

[28] Some pilgrims carry tulasi plants in their hands throughout their pilgrimage to Dvaraka, the legendary capital of Krishna and one of the seven most sacred Hindu cities.

Shiva's aniconic symbol – the linga – is sometimes prescribed to have made from the black soil from the roots of the tulasi plant.

[29] In the Srimad Bhagavatam, the significance of the Tulasi over other plants is described as: Although flowering plants like the mandāra, kunda, kurabaka, utpala, campaka, arṇa, punnāga, nāgakeśara, bakula, lily and pārijāta are full of transcendental fragrance, they are still conscious of the austerities performed by tulasī, for tulasī is given special preference by the Lord, who garlands Himself with tulasī leavesEvery part of the tulasi plant is revered and considered sacred, including the leaves, stem, flower, root, seeds and oil.

The Padma Purana declares a person who is cremated with tulasi twigs in his funeral pyre gains moksha and a place in Vishnu's abode Vaikuntha.

If one makes a paste of dried tulasi wood (from a plant that died naturally) and smears it over his body and worships Vishnu, it is worth several ordinary pujas and lakhs of gaudanam (donation of cows).