Introduction
In this spiritual and intuitive article, we will discuss about “who is vishwakarma and what he created . He is worshiped all around India with great reverence.
Vishwakarma is the God of architect who created the Murtis (idol) of God and Goddess and also the weapons which they carried with themselves . He also created temples , buildings , machines and yantra .
Ancient Hindu temples which were built thousands of years ago are pronounced examples of Hindu Architecture .
Let us dive deep into the whole history of “ who is Vishwakarma “ and how he became the god of architecture . But before that we should have the background knowledge of architecture .
The word architecture came from the Latin word “ architectura “ Which actually drawn from the Sanskrit word “ Archidakshtaurya “ which means the knowledge or the brilliancy used to settle down the human beings on the planet Earth by using sun’s energy .
Lord Vishwakarma is the name behind the word “ science of architecture “ . In Hindi we call it “ Vastu-Shastra “. It is also studied as Shilpa Shastra or Sthapatyaved .
There are many Hindu scriptures which talk about architecture and they are Vishwakarma-Prakasa , Aparajita-praccha , Manasara , Maya Mata , samarangana-sutradhara , Agastya-sakaladhikara and Silpa-ratna .
Non architecture scriptures like Agni Puran , Matsya Puran , Narad Puran , Bhavishya Puran, Skanda puran , Garuda Puran , Vishnu Puran , Tantras and agamas also give a detailed understanding of architecture.
Story of Vishwakarma
The story of Lord Vishwakarma will take you back to the time when Lord Shiva was getting married to Maa Parvati. That was the time when all the eight directions were filled with the praise of Lord Shiva.
All Devtas ( God ) , goddess , Kinner , Yakshas ,Bhuta , Pisach had come to become the witness of the great Universal marriage . The whole sky got lightened up by infinite gems and crystals. “ The word paradise is not enough to justify the beauty of that place .
Lord Vishwakarma was one of them who had come to become the witness of universal marriage . He was full of intense devotion for Lord Shiva .
He didn’t want to leave an opportunity to praise Lord Shiva in front of him, especially on the occasion of his marriage . Lord Vishwakarma started to praise Lord Shiva. Every word of him was imbibed with deep reverence .
Seeing such a deep reverence towards himself , he asked him for a boon . Lord Vishwakarma appealed to Shiva to enlighten his life with a great knowledge of vastu shastra ( science of architecture) so that he can serve the people .
And this is how lord Vishwakarma gained the knowledge of science of architect from Lord Shiva .
Whether its temple , building , weapons of God and Goddess etc on the planet earth , all were constructed by Vishwakarma .He was the one who gave the science of architecture to the humans on the planet Earth.
The Vastu Shastra and all other scriptures related to architect were written thousands of years ago which later on translated into different languages and finally reached to different countries.
Family
Vishwakarma is known as the Tvastha of the world. Even their son is being called as Tvastha. Vishwakarma has four sons Jaya, Maya, Siddharth and Aparajit.
Siddharth is called as Tvastha in many scriptures. He had gained Prowesity in Lohkarma and Yantrakarma. And the rest of his sons adopted Vastu Vidya from their father . There are many granthas which talk about the conversation between Vishwakarma and his sons.
Iconography
The word icon is derived from the Greek word “Eikon” which signifies an object which we can worship . In India, the science of architect has at least five major branches and they are
- The canons of town planning
- The art of house building or temples
- The Canon of Icon making which simply means Iconography
- Essential characteristics of paintings
- The art of constructing machines
Again the iconography is divided into three volumes
- Pratima vigyan
- Pratima Lakshan
- Chitra Lakshan
Caste
In ancient India, there was no word like caste existed . It came much later after the intervention of British rule .India was actually divided into Varna and jaati which were completely different from what caste represents today .
When we travel to Karnataka, Mysore, Andhra, Telangana and Maharashtra, we can find architect( shilpkar) with the title Panchanan of Vishwakarma jaati .They belong to different gotras according to their expertise like Saanas,Abhanvasra , Suparyaas etc. And in ancient times they used to have foods only from Brahmin .
They have expertise in building temples, chariots,idols etc.
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Creation of God
When we utter the word creation of God then it clearly means creating the images or pratima of God and Goddesses. The word image is derived from the old French and Latin word “ Imago “ . In Sanskrit we call it Pratima and in Hindi Murti .
Creating the Murti of God and Goddesses is such an auspicious job to perform that the person should have the purest mind and soul .And only a yogic mind can have such a mind .
Khajuraho temple is one of the best examples of the yogic mind.It was created by great Yogis .
Images after being architect should be installed on a specific place which is called as “ Garbha-Griha “. And Garbha Griha should be adorned with outer walls and these outer walls should be adorned with different kinds of images .
These Garbha Griha and outer walls are the same as soul and body . The way the soul is given the outer wall which we call “body“ , the same way the garbhagriha is the soul and outer wall is the body .
All the God and Goddesses who are installed in the temples are adorned with the outer wall .
Creation of Ravan Lanka
Ravana Palace was architect by none other than Lord Vishwakarma. The palace was called “Ratna “ or “ Swarn-bhumi of gems and golds”.
It was completely made out of gold. It was 100 League long and 20 wide.It had four major Gates. The palace had domes and long turrets which were enclosed by a giant wall and these giant walls were made up of gold.
There were wide ranging streets and bright gates which were guarded by the Rakshasa. Near the palace there was a beautiful lake which was filled with lilies and lotuses.
This was a pure earthly Paradise which was much more beautiful and amazing than what a common man could imagine of.
Creation of Sudarshan Chakra
Sudarshan Chakra is the weapon of Lord Krishna which is adorn in his index finger. It was designed by the legendary Vishwakarma.
It contains 12 spokes and 6 navels and the centre is called vajra
There is a great Legend behind creating Sudarshana Chakra and it goes like:
Surya ( Sun God ) was married to Vishwakarma’s daughter, Sanjana.They had two sons named Vaivasvata Manu and Yama ( Lord of death).
One day Sanjana couldn’t bear the energy of Surya anymore so, she decided to create an image of her own body and named her Chaya and told her to not utter this secret even to his husband .
Chhaya replied as you wish but put a condition that she would reveal this secret Only when someone dared to curse her or pull her hair .
With this talk , Sanjana left the place and went to his father’s house Vishwakarma but soon she left the house of his father and reached Uttara Kuru and started to live there .
After passing of several years , Yama realised that in the garb of his mother , there is someone else .Yama talked about his suspicion to his father Surya . Surya pulled her hair and asked the truth . She finally revealed the secret to Surya .
After knowing the truth , he went in search of Sanjana and soon found her. When Lord Vishwakarma got to know the reason behind her daughter’s leaving the husband’s home ,he asked Surya to give him permission to lessen his energy .
And from that energy Lord Vishwakarma created the Sudarshan Chakra.
Vishwakarma puja / Vishwakarma Jayanti 2023
Every religious festive celebration has its own significance. Vishwakarma puja is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Vishwakarma which falls between 16th-17th September of every year.
It’s the celebration of the greatest architect of the planet Earth who designed temples, idols ,buildings ,Palace, God’s weapons etc.
On this special occasion people of India perform the poojas of all the Machines, buildings with great reverence . Making the symbol of Swastik during Vishwakarma puja is seen all over India. This is the common practice of Hindus during this specific day.
Mangal Aarti and chanting of mantras are performed during Puja .
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