Origin of Viswakarmas

According to traditional belief, Vishwabrahmins are descended from five sons of lord Viswakarma They are as follows:

• Manu   ..........            Rig Veda
• Maya    ..........            Yajur Veda
• Twashtha ...........     Sama Veda
• Silpi ...........                Adharva veda
• Vishwajnya............   Pranava Veda

The community is spread widely throughout India and played a vital role in the village economy. Their socio economic status varied from a very high level to the low level in different parts of India, as they earned high wages in towns because of their factory employment and low wages in villages. About Vishwabrahmins, Anand K. Coomaraswamy says "the Kammalar (i.e. Panchaal) were known as Vishwa or Dev Brahmana. They spread gradually towards the south and then reached Ceylon, Burma & Java. The Vishwabrahmins claim to have been the spiritual guides and priests and their position in the society survives in the saying the 'Vishwabrahmana is guru to the world'".
They also perform priestly rites in connection with consecration of images. They both claim and possess various special privileges, which they always upheld with much vigour, He also mentions "throughout the rest of ceremony all priest officers had been performed by the craftsman themselves acting as Brahman priest".


Dr. Krishna Rao says, "The most highly organized & efficient of the industrial classes was Virpanchal comprising Goldsmiths, coiner blacksmiths, carpenters and masons. In the finest period of Indian art, particularly between eighth and ninth century, they claimed and enjoyed a social status in the community, equal to Brahmans. The art of engraving & sculpture had attained a high stage of development. It was exclusively cultivated by Panchals who wore sacred thread & considered themselves as Vishwakarma Brahmans. The craftsman being deeply versed in national epic literature always figured in the history of India as missionaries of civilization, culture & religion. The intellectual influence being creative & not merely assimilative was at least as great as that of the priest and the author".


Panchal are known as the missionaries of civilization, culture & religion because they spread the Hindu religion to the whole world through their art. Ernest B. Havell says, “The northern quarter of (Pataliputra) was assigned to Brahmans & certain of the higher craftsman such as the armorers, ironsmiths & workers in precious stones. The association of skilled craftsmen with the Brahman and the Kshatriya castes is additional evidence that craftsmanship did not hold an inferior status in Indo Aryan society." The stapathi or master builder is described in the Shilpa ssasthra as officiating at religious ceremonies which preceded the laying out of the Indo Aryan town or village and some of the metal workers and carpenters of the south of India still retains as their caste indication the name Acharya  which denotes a teacher of religion.

Vedic Schools of Vishwakarma brahmin

,        *   Sri PatnalaSanyasi rao Vedha Pathasala Brahmamgari Matham,Andhra pradesh

• Sri Yalavarthi Anjaneya shastri veda pathashala,Andhra pradesh
• Sree Gayathri Virat Vishwakarma Veda Pathashala, Atmakuru, Andhra pradesh
  
• Sree Shreeram Sharan Veda Pathashala, Himayat nagar, Hyderabad.
• Sri Jaganmahamuneeswara vishwakarma Veda Pathashala, Pandavulagutta, Kalvasreerampur, karimnagar.

Spiritual Saints

          *  Adi sankaracharya


           "Acharyo sankarao nama, Twoshta putra na samshaya,
            Viprakula gururjatha, Vishwakarmanthu Brahmana."


            From text., “Sankara vijayam”
 

Engineers and Vastu

• Padmabhushan Dr. V. Ganapathy Sthapathy (A great living sage who is translating The Pranava Veda and has built the  (Thiruvalluvar Statue)
• Amarashilpi Jakanachary  (Amarashilpi Jakanachari was a legendary sculptor credited with building many fine temples for the Kalyani Chalukyas and Hoysalas, including the famous sculptures at Belur and Halebidu)
• Ruvari Malithamma (Ruvari Malithamma was a famous architect and sculptor in the 12th century who made many important contributions to temples built by the Hoysala Empire in Karnataka state, India)

 

Education,Technology & Management

• Sam Pithroda.  Revolutionized the Indian Telecom sector
• Pranav Misty. Invented Sixth sense
• Pradeep Kar- Founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Microland. He also founded Indya.com which he sold to Rupert Murdoch's Star Group.]

 

Film industry

• M.K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar. (First Tamil super star of Tamil film industry also called as MKT)
• Jagajit singh. (Viswabrahmins have Dhiman as the last name in Northern India)
• Ramanand Sagar. (Famous creator of television series Ramayana and Shri Krishna. Sagar is a common Vishwakarma surname in the state of MP and UP)
• Gulzar. (Famous Indian poet, lyricist, film-maker, director - Winner of the Academy Award (Oscar) for best original song lyrics in 2008 for the song "Jai Ho" from the movie Slumdog Millionaire, along with A.R. Rahman)
• Ameet Channa. (British Film Actor)
• Kulvinder Ghir. (Actor/Comedian Goodness Gracious Me)
• Jagathy Sreekumar (Versatile Actor, Malayalam Film industry)
• Jayasurya ( Upcoming Superstar of Malayalam film industry)

 

Politics

• Sellappan Ramanathan.  S R Nathan is the President of Singapore. He was born in a Tamil Goldsmith family of South Indian origin who migrate to Singapore in the early years of the 20th century.
• Dalip Sing Saud- He was the first Asian American, Indian American and Sikh member of the Unites States Congress
  
• Madhusudhan Misty. (Ex-M P (Sabarkanta), Politician from Gujarat.

• Giani Zail Singh (VII th President of Indian Republic 1982-87)

 

Sports

• Harbajan Singh. Indian spin bowler
• Monty paneasar. English spin bowler of Indian origin
• Gursharan Singh (Played for the Indian test team)
• Pragyan Ojha- India's left arm spinner

 

 

 

 

 

 

Books on history of Vishwabrahmins

 

• Roberts, A.E. (1909). Visvakarma and his descendants. Calcutta: All-India Vishvakarma Brahman Mahasabha.
• Dr. Gnanananda, G. (Ed.) (1981). Sri Visvakarmayaya bhushanam (Kannada) original by K.P. Dixit (1878). KGF: Jnana Bhandara.Kashyapa Shilpa Shastram,Brahmeeya Chitra Karma Shastram.
• Sharma, A.S. (1989). Visvakarma Smaj ka sankshipt itihas (Short history of Vishvakarma Society). New Delhi: Visvakarma Institute of Research and Education.
• Chinmayacharya, K. (2002), Devudu Manavudu, East Godavari.: Ramesh Kumar, K.
• Shilpashastra (शिल्पशास्त्र In Marathi). It was written on Shake 1165 that is more than 700 years back & was published by B.S. Sutar (Igatpuri, Nasik 1906).
• Vaddepati Niranjana Shastry. Vishwakarma Brahmana Vamshagamamu. Lang.: Telugu.
• Swarna Subramanya Kavi. Vishwabrahmanulaku Prathama Satkara Arhatha. Lang.: Telugu.
• Phanidapu Prabhakara Sharma. Vishwabrahmana Gothra Gayathri. Lang.: Telugu.
• Bharatiya Viswakarmajar:Edava Somanathan:Analytical study of the Indus Valley Civilisation
• Vishwabramma Puranam: V.Kathiresan Achari: The history of Vishwabrahmins: Lang: Tamil
• V. N. Gajandran chennai Viswabrama vamsham,gothram,puranam lang : Tamil
• "PANCHA MANUSHY MOOLA VARGA NJANAM" Compiled in Malayalam by 'A.K.V.Suvarnakar' (A.K.Velayudhan),Kannankulangara, Thrissur 680007, Kerala
• "SREEMAT MOOLASTHAMBAM PURAANAM", compiled in Malayalam by Dr.Dharmananda swamikal Published by Viswakarma Samskarika Samithy Alappuzha. Ph : 0477 2237087