Why Vishwakarma Puja is celebrated on the same day every year

Vishwakarma Puja, Vishwakarma Day, or Vishwakarma Jayanti falls on the last day of Indian Bhado month which is also known as Bhadra Sankranti or Kanya Sankranti. It is celebrated mainly in the Eastern part of the country like in Assam, Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Tripura and also in Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka. Apart from India, Vishwakarma Jayanti is also celebrated in Nepal. The day marks the birth of Hindu God Vishwakarma, the ‘architect’ of the gods. He is also known as the ‘First Engineer’, the ‘Engineer of the Gods’, and the ‘God of Machines’.

Vishwakarma is regarded as the main craftsman and architect of Gods. Viswakarma is the son of Lord Brahma, the creator of the whole universe. Viswakarma is the official builder of all the gods’ palaces. As per Hindu mythologies, Vishwakarma is the designer of all the flying chariots of the gods and goddesses. He designed and made the weapons for them of too. In Mahabharata, the world’s biggest epic, he is described as “The lord of the arts, executor of a thousand handicrafts, the carpenter of the gods, the most eminent of artisans, the fashioner of all ornaments and a great and immortal god.“

The festival is usually celebrated on September 17 every year, usually falls on 16th-19th September every year as per the Gregorian calendar. Other Hindu festivals dates like Diwali, Navratri, Ganesh Chaturthi, and Krishna Janmashtami changes every year because most auspicious days and festivals depend on the lunar calendar and on tithi – lunar day, which changes annually. However, there are other festivals like Vishvakarma Puja, Makar Sankranti, etc which are based on the solar calendar & hence fall on the same date each year according to the Gregorian calendar (which itself is a solar calendar). The majority of times Vishwakarma puja falls on September 17 (very rarely it might vary by a day).

In 2022 Vishwakarma Jayanti is being observed on 17th September.

Hindu mythology is full of Vishwakarma’s many architectural wonders. Hindu mythology divides the whole era of this earth into four yugs (span of time), Staya yug, Treta yug, Dwapar yug and Kali yuga. He had built several towns and palaces for the gods. In Satya yuga, he built the Swarga Lok, (heaven), the abode of the gods and demigods where Lord Indra rules. Bishwakarma built the Lanka of Ravan in Treta yuga, the city of Dwarka in Dwapar Yuga, and Hastinapur and Indraprastha in the Kali yuga.

How to celebrate Vishwakarma Jayanti

The festival is celebrated mainly in factories, industrial areas, and on the shop floor. This day is observed not only by the engineering and architectural community but by all people who use machines and tools. All the machinery is worshiped along with the worship of Viswakarma. People worship their vehicles along with machinery. People install pictures of lord Viswakarma at the corners of crossroads and put statues and idols of him in corner of the street.

Machinery workers worship the divine in hopes of the smooth functioning of their machines while craftsmen worship the tool in the name of Vishwakarma. Cleaning and worshipping bikes, cars, buses, trucks, and all other forms of vehicles is also a commonly held tradition. Even modern machinery, equipment, and electronics are worshipped so that they receive the blessings of the divine and work smoothly without malfunction.

People pray for a better future, safe working conditions, and, above all, success in their respective fields. It is customary for craftsmen to worship their tools in his name, refraining from using the tools while doing so. Modern electronic servers are also worshipped for their smooth functioning.

Benefits of Vishwakarma Puja

The importance of worshipping Lord Vishwakarma is not simply to celebrate his creative creations but as well as how he used the science of trade to produce. The function of that is vastly vital to humankind. It is the simplest way of showing gratitude for conferring abilities on humans so that they have the means to earn their liveliness. While the name may not appear common, he is highly revered among the working class. It is also the time wherever all the ‘tools of the trade’ are clean and loved.