Famous Telugu Tulasi Sa'metalu:
1) tulasi kOTalO vummESina'vEmira' amTE, ya~navEdika anukonna'nu anna'DaTa.
2) tulasi vanamulO gamja'yi mokka molicinaTTu.
Vemana says: tulasika'ramulunu doomupai niiramu paracida'na dushapa'lu pOsi karagi ra'gipaini kramamuga' numcara' viSvada'Bira'ma vinuravEma.
When some one breathes the last, it is customary (ritualistic) to pour atleast a udhdhariNi of Tulasi teertham in the mouth. If the Tulasi teertham goes through - the kith and kin feel great about it and take it for granted that this individual straight away lands on Indra's empire, the Swargam.
There was a healthy Tulasi plant in our Tulasi Fort (kota) in the middle of the house. As a student of botany, I used to go and remove the inflorescence and leaves from the plant and if by any chance my mother witnessed that cruel act - that was not my day man! My father used to feel the heat too! During Karteeka masam and on the diipa'vaLi day, my mother used to worship Tulasi. She used fast the whole day and offer vaDapappu and chalimiDi in the evenings.
If you read the "striila vrata'la kadhalu", there is a vratam called "Tulasi vratam". Next time I will try to post that story. The Oriya ladies are crazier for Tulasi than their Andhra counterparts. I once witnessed a corpse laid to rest on a Tulasi bed (paccabaddala pallaki) prepared with atleast 20 to 30 whole tulasi shrubs (some one uprooted very healthy and old Tulasi plants from the Brundavanam.). Tulasi protects the dead and the living from ghosts! That is what I was told. Oh! I forgot!
Our Maharajah built a brundavanam in the palace. We had tour through the brundavanam one day. I thought that it is filled with fantastic flowering plants. To my surprise, the whole brundavanam is occupied by krishna tulasi, swEta tulasi, and vana tulasi. My friend told me that there are at least 3 major types of Tulasis. It is true botanically. It is one's foolishness to just think that Andhra ladies are the only ones who worship Tulasi. The men of Andhra (and Orissa) too consider Tualsi as a holy plant. I used to watch a karaNam who used to wear Tulasi (a small cutting) in his left ear early in the morning and a fresh namam on the forehead. He used to say "nara'yaNa" all the time but it seems in side he used to think "varaha'la va'na" - the guy used to see the bottom of the dust bin for a penny. Tulasi offers an excellent camouflage for imposters!
Botanically:
1) The main Tulasi: Ocimum sanctum
Family: Labiatae (mint/podina/dhaniyalu/kottimeera family)
Sanskrit: Tam
Telugu: Tulasi
Hindi: Tulsi
Used for several ailments especially has a prominent role in Ayurveda. "Tulasi is for sarvavya'di niva'raNam". It is given for liver disorders. It is also used as an antidote against snake and scorpion bites. It is considered as an antiseptic. Tulasi is a very good insect repellent. Mosquitoes don't go near the plant. Skin disorders like "SOBi", "CumDru", and "gajEmdra mOksham - gajji" are alleviated by Tulasi treatments. Tulasi extracts are given for fevers, especially malaria. Surprisingly Tulasi contains natural products similar to those found in Eucalyptus. It is not to anybody's surprise that Tulasi has antiinflammatory and analgesic properties. Ayurvedic doctors used to give tulasi choornam for several ailments
MahanaivEdaym (annam) does not become naivEdaym until you put a leaf of Tulasi on it.
2) Ocimum americanum : Hindi: Kala Tulasi
Telugu: Kukka Tulasi
3) Ocimum basilicum: Sanskrit: Munjariki
Telugu: Bhutulasi
4) Ocimum gratissimum: Sanskrit: Vridhdhatulasi
Telugu: Ramatulasi
Phytogeographists say that the holy tulasi, Ocimum sanctum may not be indeginous to India. So, did Aryans bring it and introduce it in India? Why do Vaishnavaites consider Tulasi as holy? Did anybody see Tulasi being offered in Siva temples?
Where do you find Tulasi in America? Well! Most of our fellow countrymen have it in their living rooms or greenhouses or basements or backyards. First time someone told me, I drove 150 miles to see it and identified it as a Tulasi-like mint but positively not a Tulasi and did not belong to any one of those above 4. I told that gentleman that it was not Tulasi. He put a sad face and told me that the India Grocery store guy took 15 dollars and gave him this plant. Wa're wa'h! What a bijinessamDii guruvuga'roo? That grocery store Pateljii sold around 50 alleged Tulasis to innocent Tulasi Bhaktas in the Meraka Desam and made around 700 big ones. Go to Pittsburgh or West Virginia (Wheeling, Hare Krishna's Prabhu Pada's Palace) and get a small seedling or some seeds. That is more authentic. Ask someone's mother or mother-in-law, who innocently brought some Tulasi seeds from the Andhra Desa. Good Luck! God Bless Tulasi and in turn may Tulasi Bless US in US!
-PALANA