Vishwakarma is known as the divine engineer of the world. As a mark of reverence he is not only worshipped by the engineering and architectural community but also by all professionals. It is customary for craftsmen to worship their tools in His name.
Like other gods Visvakarma is also attributed a putative birthday by the Hindu religion. This becomes conjectural according to many in the community. The more philosophical minded argue that it is impossible for the original Creator of everything to be born on a particular day. It is a contradiction in terms since that presupposes another creator for Visvakarma. But among those who believe that there is a birthday also there is no agreement. It is celebrated on two days under different names:
- 'Rishi Panchami Dinam'. "Rishi Panchami Dinam" literally means ‘the day of the solidarity of five rishis’. Those who celebrate this day believe that Visvakarma did not have a birthday like the mortals but only a commemoration day in which his five children (supposedly five rishis) came together to declare their solidarity and pray to their illustrious father. This day follows the rules of the Hindu Almanac and changes with every year. Following the practice of their sage forefathers the five groups among the Visvakarma community also celebrate this as an auspicious day in commemoration of their patron god at present.[7]
- 'Visvakarma Jayanthi'. Vishwakarma Jayanthi is celebrated by all industrial houses, artists, craftsman and weavers. The festival is observed on the Kanya Sankranti Day (September 17) which follows the Ganesh Puja. It was on this particular day that the forefathers of the present Visvakarma people invented plough and gifted it to humanity. Plough represents both the artisan trade as well as agriculture and therefore becomes the most representative symbol of the ancient Indian civilisation. It changed the course of human history altogether. This was a change from ‘local mob culture to universal human culture’ and Visavkarmas of India pioneered it. Coincidentally, this becomes the birthday of Visvakarma also. So Indians in the past celebrated this day of many illustrious conjunctions as an occasion to honour Visvakarma and his descendents
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