Vishwakarma according to Hindu scriptures is considered to the divine architect or the God of engineering. He is that exemplary divine architect who created amazing and brilliant palaces along with some very interesting weapons and vehicles for the Gods.
He is considered unanimously to be the sole architect of the Trilokas – or the 3 worlds of the Swargya, Martya and Patal; or the heaven, the mortal world and the underworld.
When is Viswakarma Puja observed?
Every year on the last day of the month of Bhadra, in Kanya Sankranti, Vishwakarma Puja is celebrated in the engineering colleges, companies, factories and numerous other places dealing with architects, machines and other technical people. This celebration is done in commemoration of the birth anniversary of Vishwakarma. In the year 2019, the Vishwakarma Puja will be celebrated on September 17th, Tuesday.
Legend of Vishwakarma
Vishwakarma, the divine architect is said to have been arisen from the samudra mantha. As Gods do not generally have birth or death, it is popularly believed that Lord Vishwakarms’s 5 sons invoked their father; the wizard of divine architecture on this day and thus the day came to be considered to be sacrosanct.
Vishwakarma was such a wizard of architecture that it is widely believed that he built the flying chariots for the Gods. Apart from this Vishwakarma also built Lanka- the capital of Ravana in the treat yuga, the Swarga in the satya yuga, the city of Dwarka where Lord Krishna ruled in the Dwapara age and also the towns of Hastinapur and Indraprastha for the Pandavas. The Mahabharta has called him the most eminent of artists and the executor of thousands of architects.
Apart from all these, Vishwakarma also created all the deadly weapons for the Gods. The sacred weapon of Lord Indra is known as the Vajra. It is said to have been built by Vishwakarma with the bones of the great sage Dadhichi and each of his weapons possessed great miraculous powers endowed on them by Vishwakarma himself.
It is also believed that Vishwakarma had created this world under the instructions of Lord Brahma.
Thus Vishwakarma day is celebrated as a majorly important day for all the artisans, craftsmen, the engineers and anyone who is involved in engineering and architecture.
Vishwakarma Puja Vidhi or procedures
Vishwakarma puja is celebrated with much fanfare in various parts of India, mostly in Karnataka, Orissa, West Bengal etc. on this day generally the industries do not work as all the machineries are all worshipped because they are believed to be machines and tools of Vishwakarma.
- A Vishwakarma idol is brought and decorated well. Various machineries used can be fitted in his hands or should be kept near his feet if small.
- Worshipping of Vishwakarma with the help of a learned priest is to be done
- A lunch is organized where all the members of the organization takes part showing complete equality
- In the evening an Aarti is done and the lamp is shown to all the machines.
- After keeping the idol overnight, immersion must be done the next day.
- However the entire night a lamp, or the Akhand Diya must be lit and someone needs to be present.
Vishwakarma Puja is also considered to be extremely auspicious to start any kind of new ventures. On this day factory owners also engage in lot of charitable work as the day is considered to be extremely auspicious for such activities.
Viswakarma puja and Kite Flying
In many states of India, Kite Flying is an integral part of Vishwakarma Puja. This practice is more common in the states of West Bengal and Bihar. Colorful kites dot the sky and it is always an interesting sight to watch. People from all age group participate in this activity with zeal and energy.