Book Excerpt: Devi and Her Avatars by Alka Pande

An exclusive excerpt from Devi and Her Avatars by Alka Pande (Rupa Publications, 2025)

Most Hindu households grow the sacred Tulsi plant, which represents Goddess Tulsi and is regarded as an avatar of Devi Lakshmi and the consort of Shri Vishnu. There are legends, especially in the Shiva Purana, that also draw parallels between Devi Tulsi and Vrinda, the wife of Jalandhara. Irrespective of the origin story we believe in, it is not possible to perform rituals of Vishnu worship without first paying one’s respects to Devi Tulsi. Offering her leaves in the worship of Narayana—and even his avatars Krishna and Vithoba—is mandatory.

Traditionally, the Tulsi plant is reverentially placed in the centre of the courtyard of a Hindu house, called the Tulsi Vrindavan. In the Devi Bhagavatam, Devi Tulsi is referred to as being a manifestation of Lakshmi. As the story goes, once there was a king called Vrishadhvaja who was a devotee of Shiva and hence banned the worship of all other deities. Angered at the king’s ignorance, Suryadeva cursed him that he would be abandoned by Devi Lakshmi. Upset by the curse upon his devotee, Shiva pursued Suryadeva, who fled to Vishnu, seeking shelter from the wrath of the god of destruction.

Meanwhile, many years passed on earth; Vrishadhvaja died, and so did his son. It was now his grandchildren Dharmadhvaja and Kushadhvaja who were worshipping Devi Lakshmi to gain her favour. She was happy with their efforts and blessed them with her benevolence, and was born to them as their daughter—Tulsi to Dharmadhvaja, and Vedavati to Kushadhvaja.

As time went by, Devi Tulsi gave up the comforts of the royal palace and went to Badrinath to perform penance to gain Lord Vishnu as her rightful husband. Brahmadeva, pleased with her tapas, appeared before her, telling her that she would have to marry the asura Shankhachuda before she could marry Narayana. Now, Asura Shankachuda himself had undergone a long and difficult tapas to please Lord Brahma. As a result of his prayers, he had been blessed with the boon of invincibility through the Vishnukavacha, the armour of Vishnu. As per this blessing, no one would be able to slay him or bring any harm to his body till he wore the kavach.

Shankhachuda and Devi Tulsi were married, and he practised his dharma. Even so, he often made mistakes for the sake of the betterment of the asuras. Sometimes, he would sin and use unfair means to gain victory for the asuras. After he won over the three worlds, driving the gods out of the Swargaloka, it was time to put an end to his unbridled thirst for power.

As a way to protect the universe, Lord Shiva decided to go to battle with Shankhachuda. As Tulsi Devi prayed for the protection and well-being of her husband, Lord Vishnu appeared before her in his divine form and reminded her of her true reality, urging her to return to her celestial abode. In anger and grief at having to betray her husband, Devi Tulsi cursed Lord Vishnu that he would turn to stone. Vishnu then turned into a stone and remained as such on the banks of the Gandaki. People believe that this stone was a shaligrama and that Devi Tulsi’s decayed body became the river Gandaki in order to unite with Lord Vishnu, such that the strands of her hair became the Tulsi plant.

A similar legend tells us another story, except that here Devi Tulsi is Devi Vrinda, who was married to the asura Jalandhar known for creating havoc in all three worlds, having driven the devas out of the Swargaloka. His ambition had to be brought to an end, and it was Lord Vishnu who appeared before Vrinda, his most pious devotee. Vrinda, as it so happened, was performing penance through which Jalandhar would become immortal, and it was to prevent this from happening and maintain a balance in the world that Narayana had to intervene.

As part of the rituals of penance, Jalandhar and Vrinda had to sit together and perform certain rituals as a married couple. Narayana, taking on the form of Jalandhar, sat beside Vrinda, destroying her chastity and the sanctity of the ritual. Realising the truth, a distraught Vrinda cursed Lord Vishnu to become a stone, and he turned into a shaligrama. Vrinda then immolated herself and became the Tulsi plant growing from the earth, gaining the status of the goddess who would always be worshipped alongside Vishnu. Since then, Tulsi has become an essential component of the act of worship itself. For example, in the Gautamiya tantra, the Haribhakti vilasa states:

It is believed even today that a person who waters and cares for the Tulsi plant gains moksha and the divine grace of Vishnu even if they don’t directly worship him. Traditionally, the daily worship of the Tulsi plant is performed by the women of the household, specifically married women. Tuesdays and Fridays are considered particularly auspicious for worshipping the goddess.

Excerpted with permission from the author and the publisher of Devi and Her Avatars by Alka Pande (Rupa Publications, 2025).

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About the Book

Ya Devi Sarva Bhuteshu…the Devi and Her avatars reside everywhere.

In Devi and Her Avatars, writer and historian Dr Alka Pande has chosen some of the most revered and fascinating avatars from the Devi Bhagavata Purana and the Durga Saptashati—the two key texts in which the many forms of Devi are celebrated—and explored their origins as well as the local lores, legends and symbolism surrounding them.

From Adi Shakti to Shiva Shakti to Mahadevi, from the Vedic to the Puranic to the tribal goddesses, from Vindhyavasini to Durga to the kuladevis, the Goddess is worshipped in different forms. In Assam, She is Kamakhya Devi, the Tantrik goddess; in Bengal, She is Durga and Kali, slayers of asuras and demons; in Gujarat, She is Momai Mata or Dashama; in Kerala, Her form is Bhadrakali; in Tamil Nadu, She is Amman; among the Gonds in central India, She is worshipped as Prakriti and Kankali Kali.

She is the Eternal and reigns supreme as the Primal Energy. This fascinating book traces how Devi’s presence has been experienced and revered by Her believers for many millennia.

About the Author

Dr Alka Pande is one of India’s leading authors, art historians and curators. Her prominent books include 108 Portraits of Indian Culture and Heritage (2024) and Body Sutra (2019). Currently, she serves as a consultant art advisor and curator of the Visual Arts Gallery at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi.

Her honours include the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (2006), the Australia-India Council Special Award (2009), and the Amrita Sher-Gil Samman (2015). Recently, she received the Culture Champion Award (Global) and the CIMA Lifetime Achievement Award (2023) for her contribution to Indian art.