Festival · 2027

Vishwakarma Puja 2027 — Friday, 17 September 2027

Vishwakarma Puja honours Vishwakarma, the divine architect and craftsman, on Kanya Sankranti, and is kept in workshops, factories and offices wherever people work with tools and machines.

In 2026

Thursday, 17 September 2026

Sunrise / sunset: 6:06 AM / 6:24 PM
Sankranti moment: 7:52 AM

Rule: The day the Sun enters sidereal Virgo (Kanya Sankranti) if before sunset, else the next day.

In 2027

Friday, 17 September 2027

Sunrise / sunset: 6:06 AM / 6:24 PM
Sankranti moment: 2:10 PM

Rule: The day the Sun enters sidereal Virgo (Kanya Sankranti) if before sunset, else the next day.

Times follow New Delhi’s sunrise and sunset. In other cities the muhurat shifts by some minutes, and occasionally the day by one. Full festival calendar

What is Vishwakarma Puja?

Vishwakarma is the craftsman of the gods. The name means the maker of all, and in the Rigveda Vishvakarman is praised as the creator who shaped the world. In the Puranas and the epics he is the builder of divine cities and weapons: Dwarka for Krishna, the golden city of Lanka, Indraprastha for the Pandavas, and many of the weapons carried by the gods.

Unlike most Hindu festivals, Vishwakarma Puja in eastern India is fixed not by a tithi but by the Sun. It is kept on Kanya Sankranti, the day the Sun enters sidereal Virgo, which in the Bengali solar calendar is the last day of the month of Bhadra. Because the solar year keeps closely in step with the civil calendar, the festival comes on almost the same civil date every year, unlike the festivals that follow the moon.

The spirit of the day is respect for work and for the means of work. Machines are switched off and cleaned, tools are laid out and worshipped, vehicles are washed and garlanded, and in many workplaces there is a holiday or a half day with a shared meal. Carpenters, blacksmiths, masons, weavers, mechanics, engineers, drivers and factory workers all keep it, and the image of Vishwakarma, often shown as an elderly figure with a beard, holding tools, with the elephant or swan beside him, is set up in shops and workshops.

In the Vishwakarma communities of craftsmen, who trace their descent from him, the worship has a longer history and its own calendar, and some of them keep his jayanti on a different day altogether. The Kanya Sankranti observance, though, has become the widest public form of the festival.

How it is observed

Workshops, factories and offices are cleaned the day before, and machines are stopped for the puja.
Tools, instruments and machines are washed, marked with sandal or vermilion and worshipped along with the image of Vishwakarma.
Vehicles, from bicycles and rickshaws to buses and lorries, are washed and garlanded.
A priest or the eldest worker performs the puja, followed by prasad and often a shared meal for everyone who works there.
In Bengal and neighbouring regions, the sky fills with kites as people fly them from rooftops through the afternoon.
In many places the tools are not used for the rest of the day, as a way of letting them rest.

How the date is fixed

Vishwakarma Puja is kept on Kanya Sankranti, the day the Sun enters sidereal Virgo, if the entry happens before sunset; if the Sun enters after sunset, the puja is kept on the next day. Because this depends on the Sun and not on the moon, it falls on almost the same civil date every year. Some regions keep Vishwakarma Jayanti on other days instead, such as Magha Shukla Trayodashi, or the day after Diwali in parts of the north. The date and the moment of the Sun’s entry are shown above.

Where practice differs

The Kanya Sankranti festival is strongest in West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam and Tripura, and in industrial towns across eastern India, where factories, railways and mines keep it with great energy. In Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and parts of Uttar Pradesh, many workshops worship Vishwakarma on the day after Diwali, alongside Govardhan Puja. Some Vishwakarma communities in the west and south keep his jayanti on Magha Shukla Trayodashi. In Karnataka and parts of the south, the worship of tools and vehicles is folded into Ayudha Puja during Navratri instead. Because the day follows the Sun, the amanta and purnimanta difference of the lunar months does not arise.

Dates and times are computed by our own engine (sunrise, tithi and kalas for New Delhi, Lahiri ayanamsa). In another city, or in an almanac of another tradition, the day can differ by one — follow your family’s tradition.

Questions people ask

Why is Vishwakarma Puja on nearly the same date every year?

Because it is tied to Kanya Sankranti, the Sun’s entry into sidereal Virgo, not to a lunar tithi. The solar year stays close to the civil year, so the date barely moves.

Who is Vishwakarma?

The divine architect and craftsman of Hindu tradition, praised in the Rigveda as the maker of the world and in the Puranas as the builder of Dwarka, Lanka and Indraprastha and of the gods’ weapons.

Why are kites flown on Vishwakarma Puja?

In Bengal and neighbouring regions, kite flying has long been part of the day’s holiday mood, especially in Kolkata and industrial towns. It is a local custom rather than a ritual requirement.

Is Vishwakarma Jayanti the same as Vishwakarma Puja?

Not always. In eastern India the puja on Kanya Sankranti is the main observance. Some communities keep Vishwakarma Jayanti on Magha Shukla Trayodashi, and in parts of the north the worship is on the day after Diwali.