Vishwakarma Ji

Vishwakarma, "all-maker," is the divine architect and craftsman of the gods, patron deity of workers, artisans, engineers and architects, and the mythological builder behind the tools, weapons and cities of the Hindu pantheon.

In later mythology he is sometimes identified with Tvashtr, an earlier Vedic craftsman deity, the two figures merging over time into a single divine architect.

He is typically depicted as an elderly, wise craftsman bearing tools of his trade, a water-pot, a book, a noose and craftsman's instruments such as a measuring rod or mason's tools, marking his role as the maker of things sacred and useful alike.

He is credited with crafting the chariots and weapons of the devas, including Indra's thunderbolt, the Vajra, and with building entire cities, among them Lanka, Dvaraka and Indraprastha. He is linked to the sun god Surya through his daughter Sanjna, Surya's wife: when Sanjna could not bear the sun's full radiance, Vishwakarma reduced Surya's energy, and the trimmings cast off in the process were fashioned into various divine weapons.

Father of Sanjna, wife of Surya, tying him by marriage into the solar family and, through Sanjna's sons, into the wider mythology of Yama and the Ashvins.

Vishwakarma Puja, observed on the 17th or 18th of September, is widely celebrated by factory workers, engineers, craftspeople and artisans across India, who worship their tools and machinery in his honour on this day.

His worship is especially prominent in eastern India, notably West Bengal and Odisha, where Vishwakarma Puja is a major occasion for industrial and artisan communities, though his patronage of craft is acknowledged in workshops and factories nationwide.