Vishwakarma Puja in the Service of Sri Sri Radha Madhava

Vishwakarma is the demigod of architecture. He is accredited for designing Dwarka. The Mahabharata describes him as “The lord of the arts, executor of a thousand handicrafts, the carpenter of the gods, the most eminent of artisans, the fashioner of all ornaments … and a great and immortal god.” He has four hands, wears a crown, loads of gold jewelry, and holds a water-pot, a book, a noose and craftsman’s tools in his hands”.

Ordinarily and as explained in the Bhagavad Gita, in ISKCON we do not engage in any form of demigod worship. However in West Bengal, India it is a popular cultural tradition among workers and engineers to hold a Vishwakarma Puja to obtain the blessings for good work. In our case, this puja was held and utilized in the service of Sri Sri Radha Madhava for building Their unique and new TOVP Temple.

On Saturday September 17, 2016 our TOVP Glass fiber Reinforced Concrete (GRC) Factory workers held a Vishwakarma Puja in the factory. The day before the workers had a “Gundica Marjanam” in the GRC factory. They cleansed the entire space from top to bottom. They also washed all the tools, machines, and factory vehicles.

Pictures of Sri Sri Radha Madhava, Lord Nrsimhadeva, and Srila Prabhupada were accompanied by a deity form of Vishwakarma. All of the factory’s tools were placed on the altar and were worshipped. The yajna was performed to remove all inauspiciousness and obstacles in our work. Also, we prayed for the good health and determination of the workers.

The yajna was followed by a sumptuous Krishna Prasadam feast. The workers and their families and other TOVP staff members attended the puja. It united an uplifted the spirits of everyone. It was a positive day and a grand opportunity to honor and celebrate all of the virtuous work that is being produced for the TOVP in our very own GRC Factory.