Dev Uthani Ekadashi, the eleventh day of the bright fortnight of Kartika (October–November), is the day Vishnu awakens from his four-month cosmic sleep, ending the Chaturmas. It is celebrated together with Tulsi Vivah — the ceremonial marriage of the sacred tulsi plant to the Lord — and reopens the Hindu wedding season.
When: Kartika Shukla Ekadashi — the eleventh of the bright fortnight of Kartika (October–November); Tulsi Vivah is performed on this day or on any day up to Kartik Purnima
Where: Across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan — a household festival, with tulsi marriages in courtyards and temples alike
Deity: Vishnu (as Prabodhini, the Awakener's day) and Tulsi Devi, wedded to the Lord as the Shaligram
Observance: Ekadashi fast, ritual awakening of Vishnu with song and conch, and the full wedding ceremony of the tulsi plant with a Shaligram or Vishnu image
On Shayani Ekadashi in Ashadha, Vishnu is held to enter yoga-nidra, his cosmic sleep upon the serpent Shesha, and for four months — the Chaturmas — marriages and other grand samskaras pause across North India. On the eleventh of bright Kartika he awakens: this is Prabodhini, the Ekadashi of awakening, called Dev Uthani or Devothan in the Hindi belt. To his waking the tradition joins a wedding. The Padma Purana's telling holds that Vrinda, a devoted wife whose virtue shielded the demon Jalandhara, was deceived by Vishnu so the demon could be slain; from her devotion and her curse arose the tulsi plant, and the Lord promised to wed her each year in the form of the Shaligram stone. Tulsi Vivah keeps that promise. The day thus carries a double joy — the gods rise, and the first marriage of the season is the Lord's own — after which the human wedding calendar happily reopens.
How the awakening and the wedding are performed
Devotees keep the Ekadashi fast — no grains, many taking only fruit and water — and in the evening perform the awakening. Around the tulsi chaura or home altar, rangoli and sugarcane mandaps are raised; lamps are lit; and the family sings the traditional rousing songs — "uttho dev, baitho dev" — ringing bells and blowing the conch to wake the Lord, whose feet are often drawn in the courtyard with rice-flour. Then comes the vivah. The tulsi plant, dressed as a bride in a red chunari with bangles and shringar, is married to the Shaligram or an image of Vishnu-Krishna with the complete wedding rites — sankalpa, kanyadaan by the household's senior couple, the tying of the knot, pheras around the plant, and a wedding feast of the season's new sugarcane, ber and water-chestnut. In Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh the day is also kept as an abujh muhurat — a date auspicious for weddings without consulting the almanac.
Keeping Dev Uthani and Tulsi Vivah in Ottawa and Canada
Tulsi grows happily indoors in Canada, and many Ottawa households keep a pot on a bright windowsill year-round — by Kartika (late October or November) it must be inside, safely away from frost, and the vivah is simply performed at the indoor altar. Dress the plant with a small chunari, set a Shaligram or Krishna image beside it, draw a little rangoli, and conduct the wedding with the family gathered; children make delighted baratis. Sugarcane is findable in Asian groceries here, and seasonal substitutes — apples, singhara when available — serve for the wedding feast. The Ekadashi fast follows the local sunrise, so check this site's Ekadashi calendar for the correct Ottawa date, which can differ by a day from India. The evening songs, conch and bells need no adaptation at all.
Each link opens our computed festival calendar with exact dates and timings for your city.
Questions
Why do Hindu weddings pause before Dev Uthani Ekadashi?
Through the four months of Chaturmas, beginning with Shayani Ekadashi in Ashadha, Vishnu is held to be in cosmic sleep, and auspicious samskaras such as marriage are traditionally suspended. Dev Uthani Ekadashi marks his awakening, so the wedding season reopens from this day — in many regions it is itself an abujh (self-evident) wedding muhurat.
What exactly is married to the tulsi plant?
Tulsi is wedded to Vishnu, most traditionally in the form of the Shaligram — the sacred fossil-stone of the Gandaki river — or else an image of Vishnu or Krishna. The ceremony uses real wedding rites: kanyadaan, the knot, pheras and a feast.
Can Tulsi Vivah be done on a later day?
Yes. The classical window runs from Dev Uthani Ekadashi to Kartik Purnima; families perform the vivah on whichever day within it suits them, though the Ekadashi itself is the most popular.
Is the Ekadashi date in Canada the same as in India?
Not always — the fast follows the tithi at local sunrise, so Ottawa's date can differ by a day from India's. Use this site's Ekadashi calendar, which computes the correct observance day for your location.
Source: Vaishnava household tradition of the Hindi belt. Regional versions may vary — this text follows the version most widely used in community worship.