Priests consecrate vehicles with blessings on the occasion of Vishwakarma Puja at an auto stand in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 17: Vishwakarma Puja was observed today with much fanfare across the state.

The god of architecture and engineering was worshipped with great devotion, especially in Bhubaneswar, as it is known for its technical education institutes.

The deity is regarded as the ace architect with the credit of designing and constructing swarg (heaven) in Hindu mythology and even Hastinapur and Indraprastha in the Mahabharat. According to Odia legends, it is widely believed that Vishwakarma is the sculptor, who has created the idols of Lord Jagannath and His siblings.

Idols of the deity, known as the son of Lord Brahma, flooded the markets a few days ago that were purchased by devotees across the city. The deity, who probably has the most number of young followers here, was lavishly decorated today with gorgeous backdrops in all departments of the engineering colleges, hospitals working with medical equipment, besides physics, electronics and other branches of science colleges and institutes imparting courses in architecture.

“The concept of dedicating the full technical department to a deity is itself interesting. Though most of us are not conventionally religious, we love to pay tributes to the lord of engineering on Vishwakarma Puja,” said Sagar Mohanty, an engineering student of a city-based college.

The enthusiasm was also seen among students of the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela and the Rourkela Steel Plant as well as major ports, industries, architectural firms across Paradip, Angul, Berhampur and many cities of west Odisha. An interesting and very common scene in Bhubaneswar was the queuing up of bikes and cars, apart from devotees carrying their equipment and machines outside temples to get these consecrated with the blessings of Lord Viswakarma.

Residents owning or depending on any machines, including the autorickshaw drivers, invoked the deity.

Some apartments and residential blocks in the city also invited a few priests to get the special puja of their vehicles done elaborately.

“Lord Viswakarma is believed to be the ace mason, sculptor, architect and lord of all machines. He definitely fits into today’s technology-dependent world more than any other deity. Hence, despite not many temples dedicated to the deity, Vishwakarma Puja is widely popular,” said Nrusingha Dash, a priest.