Town Planning in Ancient India c5.9

c5.9

² Viśvakarmā :—Traditionally he is known as the divine architect. He is the son of Prabhāsa, one of the eight Vasus, and the creator of arts. In the matter of palaces, pleasure-gardens, orchards, houses, images and ornaments, tanks, and reservoirs, he is remembered as the engineer and the architect of the gods (Amaravardhaki) (Matsya Purāṇam, Ch. 5, ll. 54-6). In the Viṣṇu Purāṇa (Pt. I, Ch. 15) we have: “Viśvakarmā is the inventor of thousands of crafts and arts; he is the ‘vardhaki’ or engineer (literally joiner) of the gods; maker of all ornaments, he is the greatest of artists or artisans. He used to construct the aerial mansions and cars (vimānas) of the gods. Men live by his arts”. There is another divine architect under the name of Tvaṣṭar. In the Garuḍa Purāṇa he is described as the son of Viśvakarmā. But in the Vahni Purāṇa both Maya (generally known as the engineer of the Daityas) and Tvaṣṭar are said to be two Viśvakarmās. Again in the extracts from the Viśvakarmaprakāśa, it is evident that Viśvakarmā is a sage, a disciple of the sage Vṛhadratha, and, in the Mayamata, Maya the author is undoubtedly a sage. All these considerations make the conclusion irresistible that Viśvakarmā is a patronymic. Later on, he was deified; even to-day he is worshipped by the artisans. In Southern India, there is a class of people known as Viśvakarmās.