Tvashta

Tvashta is the divine craftsman among the Adityas, associated with the month of Vaisakha. Vedic hymns call him the shaper of forms who fashions the bodies of beings and the tools of the gods, and later tradition credits him with making the weapons of the deities, among them the thunderbolt of Indra, which is said to have been forged from the bones of the sage Dadhichi. His light is the clear, exact brightness of midday, the kind in which every edge of an object is visible and nothing is blurred.

One of the most striking stories about him concerns his daughter Sanjna, married to Surya. The Puranas say she could not bear the intensity of her husband's radiance, and Tvashta mounted the sun on a lathe and trimmed away a portion of its glare so the marriage could continue. That image gives the craftsman a special bond with the sun: he is the one who refines brilliance into something usable. He is also named as father of Vishvarupa, whom Indra slew.

Because of the craftsman theme, he is often linked with the later figure of Vishvakarma, and workers honour tools in a spirit related to his worship. Texts differ on whether Tvashta and Vishvakarma are one being or neighbours, and on his rank in the twelve, so readers should treat these identifications as traditional rather than uniform. The Modhera sun temple in Gujarat is among the monuments connected with sun worship of this kind.