Friday, October 30, 2009

Sacred Basil, Representative of the Plant Kingdom

Tulsi, the Sacred Basil Ocimum sanctum is one of the most venerated herbs in the world. The Hindus regard it as the representative of the Plant kingdom, and treat it with respect.Since all life on the planet is dependant on plants, they believe that the plants should be honoured. On the twelfth day of the lunar month of Kartika, they perform a symbolic ritual , decorating the plant holder of the Tulsi, and keeping lamps near the plant. Today being the day, this evening the Tulsi plants in Hindu gardens will be worshipped.
Tulsi is one of the basic ingredients in Ayurveda, the Indian system of medicine. All parts of the plant are medicinal. A tea made from the leaves of the Basil plant is good for cough and cold. Eating four leaves of the Tulsi daily is supposed to enhance your resistance to diseases. When I was stung by a bee a few days ago, I applied the juice of the Tulsi for quick relief. Weight watchers can lose weight by chewing the leaves of the Tulsi every day.

4 comments:

  1. Hello Lotusleaf, Indians have so much to teach us western people, I´m so moved to know how you worship this plant Tulsi. Perhaps my garden is grateful with me because y tenderly take care of it, maybe this is worshipping too.
    Cariños
    María Cecilia

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Maria Cecilia! Yes, tenderly taking care of the plants is a sort of worship too. Have a nice weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for this post on Tulsi. I am trying to grow it and have some seeds have just rooted; I'm delighted with the results. Do the seeds propagate easily when planted in the ground? Looking forward to information on all kinds of plants grown in India.

    ReplyDelete