Viswakarma Puja in Odisha
Vishwakarma is visualized as the Ultimate Reality in the Rig Veda, from whose navel all visible things emanate. The same imagery is seen in Yajurveda Purusha sukta, where the divine smith Tvastar originates from Vishwakarma.
Lord Viswakarma is known as the divine Engineer since the Puranic age. As a mark of reverence, He is been worshipped especially by the engineering community or in factories and corporates. The festival is observed on the Kanya Sankranti Day falls in the month of September. Lord Ganesh Puja is also celebrated in the same month of Vishwakarma Puja. The festival is famous for every industrial town of Odisha including Choudwar, Jagatpur Industrial Estate, Angul, Jharsuguda, and towns like Hirakud and Rourkela present the grandest ceremony on the occasion depicting different fireworks connected with modern technology.
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As the festival of the God of Architecture is mainly done in factories and industrial areas, shop floors in various factories wear a festive look on this occasion. In beautifully decorated pandals the image of Biswakarma and his faithful elephant are inaugurated and worshipped. Viswakarma is the divine architect of the whole universe and is the personification of the creative power that wields heaven and earth together.
He has four hands, carrying a water-pot, a book, a noose, and craftsman’s tools. All the divine weapons, chariots, etc. possessed by gods are his creation. He is also the chief architect and builder of Lanka, Dwarka, and Yampuri. His daughter Sanjana was married to Surya (Sun-God) and Saranya to Vaivaswat Manu.
Mythology says that it was Viswakarma who crafted the entire universe, and that is why he is regarded as the supreme worker, the very essence of excellence and quality in craftsmanship. He revealed the sciences of the industry to man and is the patron deity of all those who are engaged in productive enterprises.
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