Vishwakarma Puja

You can feel the pre-pujo fervor in the air of Kolkata. Like the mythical Kumbakarna waking up to the aroma of good food, the city rises from its slumber with passion and vigor before Pujo and the sheer number of people on the streets, in the market, carrying the idols to the pandals, shopping for clothes – all make you wonder – where were they all this while???

Vishwakarma, the Universal Architecture God, supreme craftsman and the master of engineering and his cheerful looking elephant are first to be venerated during Navratri.

Kite in hand and with other tools at his disposal, this lord represents supreme importance – at least for the cycle rickshaw boys of my Para, who had their cycles garlanded and left for rest in a corner. The cycle stand instead had a Pandal, a TV in front of it, a table for four with a pack of cards on it. They were intensely involved in the movie or in the card game - having filled their tummy with pujo bhog, and not to mention armed with an official “religious” reason to not work. But hey who can dare to mess with the festive "spirits"!!