Two rare Shaligram Stones or Shilas that will be used for sculpting the bal roop or the child form of Lord Ram have reached Ayodhya from Nepal on Thursday

The two holy stones, one weighing around 16 tons and another 18 tons, were handed over by Mahant Tapeshwar Das of the Janaki Mandir in Nepal to Champat Rai, general secretary of Ram Temple Trust

The stones, which were found in the Gandaki river of Nepal, are typically fossils  of  ammonite shells from the Devonian-Cretaceous period of 400 to 66 million years ago

Shaligram Stones are considered to be a symbolic form of Lord Vishnu and are considered highly auspicious by the Hindus

According to Hindu mythology, Lord Vishnu incarnated in the form of Shaligram Stone on being cursed by Goddess Tulsi for betraying her

The story goes that Goddess Tulsi who was earlier known as Vrinda was the wife of the asura or demon Jalandhar who wreaked havoc on the Gods

As the Gods were unable to kill Jalandhar, they approached Lord Shiva for help who couldn’t even defeat him as he was always being protected due to powerful devotional practices of his wife Vrinda

On seeing Lord Shiva unable to defeat Jalandhar, the Gods approached Lord Vishnu for help and He decided to tackle the problem by disguising himself as Jalandhar and playing a trick to malign Vrinda’s chastity

After disguising Himself as Jalandhar, Lord Vishnu stood in front of Vrinda who could not recognize Him and thinking Him to be her husband, she ran straight into His arms

Once her chastity was destroyed, Lord Shiva could easily kill Jalandhar but later when Vrinda sensed that something was wrong, she asked Lord Vishnu to show His real form

Seeing Lord Vishnu disguising as Jalandhar and tricking her to break her chastity, Vrinda cursed Lord Vishnu to become a Shaligram Stone

Although Lord Vishnu accepted the curse, Vrinda who was deeply heartbroken ended her life by self-immolation

Lord Vishnu gave Vrinda a boon that from her ashes the plant of Tulsi would be born and the plant would get married to the Shaligram stone

It is believed that Tulsi’s mortal remains decayed and became the River Gandaki, while her hair transformed into the sacred Tulsi plant.