vishwakarma puja

Viswakarma (Sanskrit vishwakarma all accomplishing, maker of all, all doer Tamil Vicuvakaruman Thai Witsawakam Telugu Kannada) is the personified Omnipotence and the abstract form of the creator God according to the Rigveda. He is the presiding deity of all craftsmen and architects. He is believed to be the Principal Architect of the Universe , and the root concept of the later Upanishadic Brahman / Purusha.

Vishwakarma Puja festival is perhaps the only festival celebrated in remembrance of the architect god Vishwakarma. He is the divine craftsman who created all the palaces of gods along with their vehicles and weapons, including Lord Indra weapon the Vajra. This festival day, which is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Vishwakarma, is a major festival for artisans and craftsmen and most of the factories and shops remain closed. The celebrations start with the Aarti early in the morning to invoke the craftsman god, asking for his benevolence and inspiration to create and innovate. Usually, this Puja takes place in the factory premises or within the shop. On this day, all artisans and craftsmen worship their tools and keep them in front of the idol of Lord Vishwakarma, so that the divine grace of the god is bestowed upon them.

Vishwakarma Puja, also known as Vishwakarma Day, is celebrated every year on the 17th of September and the day after Diwali. On these days, Lord Vishwakarma is worshipped, who alone constitutes the entire history with which this festival is linked. According to the religious texts, Lord Vishwakarma is known as Devashilpi or The Architect of Gods and considered to be the sole architect and craftsman of Triloka or The Tripartite Universe heavenly realms and their worlds, the mortal realms and their worlds, and the netherworldly and other celestial realms and worlds. His master craftsmanship however is deemed to be limitless as it is believed that he also created the flying chariots and weapons of Gods that were used in the mythological times, including the sacred weapon of Lord Indra known as Vajra which is made from the bones of sage Dadhichi.

He is also believed to have given divine attributes to each of the weapon he created.The historical relevance related to Vishwakarma Day gains more weightage as not only is Lord Vishwakarma associated with creation but also with the manifestation of the sciences of industry to the humankind. It because of this history that he is much revered by the devotees, more so by professionals like engineers, architects, artisans, craftsmen, weavers, mechanics, smiths, welders, industrial workers, and factory workers who make their living through their craftsmanship. And therefore on Vishwakarma Day, pandals are set up inside the premises of industries and factories and inside these pandals, images and idols of Lord Vishwakarma are established. The whole workforce, along with each employee and worker family, celebrates Vishwakarma Puja in unison. Even the tools, particular to each person relative field, are worshipped in the name of Lord Vishwakarma and are not used throughout the day. It their day off! Then after the Puja is performed and the ritual is complete, Prasad (offerings) are distributed among everybody.

In Hindu religious texts, he is known as Devashilpi or The Architect of Gods. His mother name was Yogasiddha and sister was known as Brihaspati. His father was called Prabhas, the eighth hermit of the legendary Astam Basu. According to mythology, it is Lord Vishwakarma who not only made the universe but also the earth and heaven. It is said that Vishwakarma also created the weapons used in mythological times like the Vajra made from the bones of Dadhichi sage used by Lord Indra.
Lord Vishwakarma is considered to be the best worker, the symbol of quality and excellence in craftsmanship. Mythology describes some of Vishwakarma creations in vivid details. They include the mythical town of Dwarka, the capital of Lord Krishna. It is also aid that Vishwakarma built the town of Hastinapur, the capital of Pandavas and Kauravas. Vishwakarma also built the town of Indraprastha for the Pandavas. Most important of all creations is Vishwakarma Sone ki Lanka where demon king Ravana lived and ruled. Lord Vishwakarma is the divine architect of the whole universe. He has four hands, carrying a water pot, a book, a noose and craftsman tools.

Almost all categories of Hindu workers who have anything to do with science and technology, right from engineers and architects, to the humble village blacksmith and carpenter earnestly pray to Vishwakarma, primarily on shop floor, or at their workplace for a better future, as also for safe conduct of their machines and equipments. As a matter of customary practice, almost all factories and workplaces have his statues or images installed prominently. Quite frequently, even the top management personnel join in the commemoration. Normally, the technical workers do not use their machines, tools, or their other means of production on this day in reverence to Vishwakarma.

Vishwakarma puja is a popular festival in the Eastern and Northern parts of India. Vishwakarma is believed to be the deity who is the main architect of the Universe. He is the son of the creator, Brahma and is the official architect of all the palaces where the Gods reside. He is also the designer of all the flying chariots of the Gods, and their weapons. Since Vishwakarma is the God of architecture and engineering as per the Hindu scriptures, every year Hindus celebrate the Vishwakarma puja with great zeal. On this day the workers take a break from work and all the machines are worshipped. Vishwakarma puja is a resolution time for all the workers and craftsmen to increase their productivity. Also a time to gain an inspiration from the God to create novel things and think of novel ideas.

According to the Hindu mythology, Lord Vishwakarma is considered the Divine Architect or the Dev Shilpi. The Rig Veda describes Vishwakarma as the God with multi dimensional vision and supreme strength. It is believed that most of the mythological architectures are the handiwork of Vishwakarma. He is believed to have been one of the gems born out of the churning of the ocean by the Gods and the demons, and is credited for creating the missiles that were used by the Gods in the mythological era. He is also the architect of the powerful weapon carried by Indra which is known as the Vajra. According to the mythological stories, Lord Vishwakarma is also responsible for creating the most popular architecture of the time, the golden palace of Lanka for the demon king Raavan.

The story goes that once Lord Shiva asked Vishwakarma to build a palace for Him and His divine consort Parvati. Vishwakarma was overwhelmed by the request and He created a palace made of GOLD. For the housewarming ceremony of the palace, Lord Shiva invited the demon king, Raavan to perform the rituals. Raavan was totally smitten by the aura and the grandeur of the palace. So, when Lord Shiva asked him to ask anything as a return gift or Dakshina, Raavan asked Shiva for the golden palace itself. Lord Shiva was obliged to give away the palace as a return gift and hence the golden Lanka became Raavan palace.

To acknowledge that lord Vishwakarma alone is the creator of all universe and the things within, and to offer worship and thankfulness to him on the Vishwakarma day, is what Vishwakarma Puja is all about. This is what lends the festival of Vishwakarma Puja its significance. The religious texts have it that it was he who brought the tripartite universe heavenly realms and their worlds, the mortal realm and their worlds, and the netherworldly and other celestial realms and worlds into existence. It was he who created Swarga (Heaven) in the Satya Yuga Sone ki Lanka (Golden Lanka) in the Treta Yuga the city of Dwarka, the capital of Lord Krishna in the Dwapara Yuga and many other architectural marvels into existence out of thin air. It was he who formed the chariots and various weapons of Gods and gave each its unique divine attributes.
And it was he who revealed the sciences of industry to us because of which we see the progress that has been made.The entire unit management, employees, and workers, along with their families come together to perform the puja. Even the tools, particular to each person profession, are worshipped in the name of Lord Vishwakarma but are not put to use until the next day. Thereafter, Prasad (offerings) is distributed among everyone, post which everybody sits together for lunch. There also a competitive tradition of flying colorful kites and engaging in mid air battles, cutting each others kites and shouting Ibo Kaata.

Only a few people have proper knowledge about this festival, though it is quite a popular one especially in Orissa, Bihar, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. That why only few people know that there are two days on which the Vishwakarma Puja is celebrated. The first one is celebrated on 16th or 17th of September and the next takes place exactly a day after the festival of Diwali. Both days are remembered as the birth day of lord Vishwakarma. The two days on which this Puja is celebrated are

Rishi Panchami Dinam
It is celebrated on the next day of Diwali. The literal meaning of this day is the day of solidarity of five rishis (sages). This day is celebrated by the followers who believe that this day is not the birthday of Lord Vishwakarma, as according to their belief, a god is immortal and hence cannot die or take birth. According to the myth, this is the day when the five sons of Lord Vishwakarma came together and invoked their father the day is celebrated in commemoration of that event. As it is celebrated according to the Hindu lunisolar calendar, it is celebrated on different dates every year.

Viswakarma Jayanti
Between the two days of Vishwakarma Puja celebration, this is the day which is more popular among the Hindus who celebrate it with pomp and show. It is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Vishwakarma and is observed on 17th September every year. This day is also commemorated as the day when Vishwakarma people crafted and gifted the plough to humanity. The plough gradually gave birth to civilization as the wanderers became cultivators and later these cultivators settled down to form society and civilization. So this day is celebrated to commemorate Lord Vishwakarma as well as to honor the early Vishwakarma people.

Vishwakarma is visualized as Ultimate reality (later developed as Brahman) in the Rig Veda, from whose navel all visible things Hiranyagarbha emanate. The same imagery is seen in Yajurveda purusha sukta, in which the divine smith Tvastar emerging from Vishwakarma. In the later puranic period this concept paved the way to the imagery of Padmanabha and Sadasiva.In the Vedic period the term first appeared as an epithet of Indra, Surya, and Agni. In that time the later developed creator concept of Brahma might have been intertwined with the concept of Vastospati and B?haspati, or Brahmanaspathi In the last phase of vedic period and during the growth of monotheism, this realistic God concept becoming more abstract and one can see Vishwakarma [the invisible creative power] emerged as the supreme god who was perceived as a hotar, the unborn creator and name giver of all other gods who have lot of faces, eyes and feet on every side and who helps Tvashtar,[the visible creative power of viswakarma] in producing all the Heavenly, Earthly and other Celestial realms and preserves them through the exercise of his arms and wings.

He sacrificed himself to himself for the evolution of this visible world, thus he is Purusha or Narayana His attributes like Vachaspathy connect him with Brahaspathi (the Guru of Gods). Again, Yajurveda pictured him as the Prajapati and in the Atharva veda he is mentioned as Pashupati. Shwethashwatharopanishad described him as Rudrasiva, the one who is dwelling in all living forms.Later in the post vedic and brahmanic period, the term Vishwakarma is appeared both as the Rsi and the Silpi. In yajurveda the term is seen as one of names of pancha risis. Though the term is an epithet of suryanarayana, one of the seven rays of Surya is also known as Viswakarma. Bhuvana Vishwakarma (Atharva/Angirasa Gothra) is a vedic Rsi who was the author of Rg 10 81,82 suktha, (Prabasa Vishwakarma) was probably a silpi and the son of Prabhas, the eighth hermit of the legendary Astam vasu and Yogasiddha, sister of Brihaspati. He is said to have revealed the Sthapatya Veda / Vastu Shastra or fourth Upa veda, and presides over the sixty four mechanical arts.