Tulsi Vivah at home
Tulasi kota decoration or Tulasi katte decoration for Tulsi marriage festival
Festival - Tulsi Vivah
Some more photos of Tulsi Vivah celebrations decorations rangoli , aarti , cotton garland
Aishwarya rangoli with kaavi border with battery operated lamps
- a blend of old and new traditions
Auspicious rangoli are drawn for the Tulsi plant or maadam in Tamil and for Tulsi Vivah . The videos of these rangoli are in my YouTube channel. The play list of these kolam/ muggulu designs is at
Apart from auspicious rangoli designs for Tulsi Vivah we can actually have a representation of a Tulsi plant or madam using a 5 by 5 plus 3 by 1 plus 5 by 1 dot grid some free hand patterns for leaves and branches and cotton buds. The pictures below should be self explanatory.
Simple Tulsi rangoli design for festival
Tulsi rangoli with dots
Tulsi Vivah ( marriage of Tulsi withVishnu say the puranas) is also celebrated as Uttwandwadasi. The image of Tulsi Devi is placed on the Tulsi plant. Since we celebrate a marriage Tulsi is adorned with a mangalsutra. Garlands made from cotton and flowers like jasmine are used to adorn the plant. I have used the pink and red roses that bloomed in the rose plants in flower pots I have.
Growing your own floral plants, watering them see the buds bloom into flowers, using the flowers for puja gives me a lot of mental satisfaction. However, flowers and rangoli have a lot in common, both are beautiful, colourful and both last for a very short time.
Amla aarti - an aarthi with amla or wild gooseberry is one of the important features of Tulsi Vivah festival. The number of amla is usually five. Place a cotton wick on each amla and aarti is performed.
These are the couple of roses (pink and red ) that I have used for Tulsi vivah festival. 
The pictures above from the Tulsi Vivah performed by me in November 2013.The photo above is the Tulsi Vivah celebrated at my eldest sister's house. The face of the Goddess was purchased in Srirangam, near Trichy in Tamil Nadu. Pooja is performed to the Tulsi plant, with the face of the Goddess placed on it. Amla (wild gooseberry) twigs are placed near the plant. Aarthi is performed with pieces of amla fruit. Offerings include laddus made from ground nuts, roasted gram and puffed rice. Please note carefully the decorations made with flowers from her garden and a vastra made from cotton I think the whole arrangement radiates holiness. Doesn't it? ( Thank you Akka, for the photo. I have uploaded the photo as per your request. She is one of the most wonderful persons you can meet. She has been my friend, philosopher, guide and my mentor. I owe a lot to her.)
One of the most important rangoli that is drawn for the Tulsi plant is the Hridaya Kamalam - a dot rangoli design showing a lotus design as viewed from the top. I have added video to my YouTube channel showing this rangoli drawn with two parallel lines to make the lotus design more intricate. The parallel lines are of different colours. How ever if you like to see the basic rangoli design go to Hridaya kamalam - a lotus rangoli.
Offerings for Tulsi Vivah Puja include ladoos made from peanuts, roasted gram, rava ladoo, moong dhall and puffed rice (nel pori urundai in Tamil ). One of them puffed rice ladoo is shown here.
The Tulsi plant is held in reverence in many parts of India. It is a ubiquitous part of Indian culture and hence many Indian households.I understand that many studies have been conducted by experts on the medicinal value of the plant. However it is beyond the scope of this blog to discuss it.
Lamps are lit at the base of the Tulasi maadam or Vrindavan daily in the evening. In the morning water is offered and puja is performed with haldi and kumkum. On Fridays and other festivals it is decorated with cotton garland and Hridaya Kamalam is drawn . The photos give an idea.
Offerings for Tulsi Vivah Puja include ladoos made from peanuts, roasted gram, rava ladoo, moong dhall and puffed rice (nel pori urundai in Tamil ). One of them puffed rice ladoo is shown here.
How to make puffed rice ladoo or nel pori urundai ?
Clean the puffed rice off any paddy husk that may be present. For 100g of puffed rice take 25 g of jaggery. Add the jaggery to water and heat it and dissolve to a stage when a drop of the solution is placed on water it can be easily rolled into a ball. Add dry ginger powder and cardamom powder to puffed rice. Coconut sliced into small pieces can be added to the jaggery syrup (it is optional). Gently pour the syrup on pufffed rice (nel pori ) mix thoroughly and roll the combination into ladoos. 
Some photos showing the steps involved in preparation of nel pori urundai or aval pori urundai
The photo below, the Tulsi plant found in many homes in India.
