Vishwakarma Puja: The day nobody touched the tools
Vishwakarma Puja, a festival dedicated to the Hindu god of engineering, is celebrated annually on September 17th in India. The article explores the cultural significance of the day, particularly in West Bengal, where it marks the beginning of the festive season and is celebrated with kite flying.
Why it matters
Offers cultural insight into regional traditions and the intersection of religious observance with professional life in India.
On Vishwakarma Puja, remembering a leather factory that honoured a Hindu god with Muslim hands participating and biryani from Park Street. Nobody thought it needed explaining.Few Hindu festivals can be entered in an office calendar years ahead without consulting a panjika, and Vishwakarma Puja, which falls today, is the most dependable of them, because it is pegged to Kanya Sankranti, the last day of Bhadra, a solar date rather than a lunar one, which is why it generally lands on September 17 every year.It seems only right that the god of engineers should keep better time than most gods.He is, by his résumé, the most accomplished contractor in the Hindu universe. Tradition credits him with Lord Krishna's Dwarka, the golden Lanka that Hanuman ji later set alight, the Pandava capital at Indraprastha and the chariots in which the gods flew.
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