Dev Uthani Ekadashi on 20 November: waking the Lord at home देवउठनी एकादशी, 20 नवंबर: घर में भगवान को जगाना

The article

For four months, from Devshayani Ekadashi in the monsoon to Prabodhini Ekadashi in Kartik, Vishnu is said to rest in yoga nidra on the cosmic ocean. Those four months are Chaturmas. Weddings and griha pravesh are usually not held, and many people keep small vows of food or habit. Prabodhini means awakening, and on this Ekadashi families wake him.

## The date this year

Most households, following the Smarta calendar, keep Dev Uthani Ekadashi on Friday 20 November. Vaishnava households, including ISKCON, keep it on Saturday 21 November. When two dates are given, follow the one your family and your temple follow.

Tulsi Vivah is kept by many families on Saturday 21 November, the Dvadashi. Some families do it on the Ekadashi evening itself, and some keep it any day up to Kartik Purnima on 24 November. All of these are old and accepted customs.

## Waking the Lord

The rite is simple and very homely. In the evening, after the lamp:

- Draw a small outline of feet with rice flour or chalk at the puja place, as if the Lord is about to walk in. - Place a few things of the season: sugarcane, water chestnuts (singhara), sweet potato, a seasonal fruit, a few sweets. - Cover them with a sieve or a clean plate, and sit around with the family. - Then, together, wake him. In many North Indian homes the women sing "uthho dev, baitho dev", a folk song whose words change from village to village, and tap the plate gently. You can simply say in your own words, with folded hands: please wake, the rains are over, the fields are ready, come into our home.

It is one of the most affectionate rites in the year. You are speaking to God as to someone you love who has been sleeping.

## The fast

The Ekadashi fast is kept as on any Ekadashi, in whichever form suits your health: water only, fruit and milk, or one simple meal without grains. It is broken the next morning within the parana time for your own city. Elders, children and anyone unwell should keep the gentlest form, or keep only the prayer.

## Tulsi Vivah

On Tulsi Vivah, the tulsi plant is dressed as a bride, with a red cloth and a few bangles, and married to Vishnu in the form of a shaligram or a small image of Krishna. A family member stands in as the bride's parent and another as the groom's. There is a small mandap of sugarcane, the phere are taken around the tulsi, and then sweets are shared.

In an apartment in Singapore or Melbourne, a tulsi pot on the windowsill is enough. The wedding season in many families begins after this day.

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