Vishwakarma Puja: For first time, govt primary schools in UP to remain open to celebrate Hindu god's birth anniversary

For the first time, government primary school students in Uttar Pradesh will have to attend school on Vishwakarma Puja on Monday, which was declared as a holiday in the previous years. Vishwakarma Puja, which is celebrated on 17 September ever year, marks the birth anniversary of Hindu god Lord Vishwakarma, who is known as the ‘architect of gods’. [caption id=“attachment_4727221” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. News18[/caption] In a letter, Uttar Pradesh’s Basic Shiksha Parishad secretary, Ruby Singh, asked all education officers to ensure schools remain open on Monday and hold programmes to educate children about the teachings of Vishwakarma. According to  The Times of India, last year, schools in the state remained open on 17 September, due to a pulse polio campaign, despite it being a Sunday. The Yogi Adityanath-led government increased the number of restricted holidays from 16 to 30 this year with Vishwakarma Puja as one of them. “The Vishwakarma Puja was always an off day for schools until this year. Celebrations will take place for the first time," the report quoted an official as saying. It is believed that Lord Vishwakarma built palaces, weapons and buildings for the gods. He is known as the ‘God of Vastu Shastra’, the ‘First Engineer’, the ‘Engineer of the Gods’ and the ‘God of Machines’. On this day, workers such as architects, carpenters, engineers, artists, mechanics and factory workers take a break from their jobs and clean up the machines, tools, equipment etc. in their offices and factories, as per News18. The festival is primarily celebrated in Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam, Jharkhand, Bihar, Tripura, and Odisha.​