Habitation is the basic need of every living being. Man builds houses
for his living. Any piece of land and structure built on it is known
as 'Vastu'. It has been derived from the word 'Vaas' which means 'to
live'. It’s practice started with Vedic period. We can find
many references in Vedas, Puranas and other subsequent literature.
Our ancient saints have concluded that anything living or non-living
in the universe is made up of five basic elements or Panch Maha Bhoot.
They are Prithvi (earth), Jal (water), Agni (fire), Vayu (air) and
Aakash (space). When these five elements are in harmony in our body,
we are healthy and active and when their equilibrium is disturbed
one is devitalized or unhealthy. Same is true with our place of living
or work. Vaastu shastra is the only science which instructs how to
maintain best equilibrium of these five elements in a building and
make best use of them to energize mental and physical energies of
inhabitants to the maximum extent. In other words vaastu tells us
how to make use of these five elements for the maximum convenience,
comfort and security keeping them in perfect harmony in our home or
place of work so that one should enjoy health, wealth, prosperity
and growth. It has many branches like grih-vastu, nagar-vastu, prasad-vastu,
devalaya-vastu etc.
EARTH: When we talk about Prithvi, we mean the piece of land on which
the structure of our residence or place of work is built or is to
be built. It’s the most important element. The points, which
are observed while selecting a piece of land are as follows. First
of all its facing is seen. For this we must know that there are eight
directions. They are East, South-East (SE), South, South West (SW),
West, North West (NW), North and North East (NE). Each direction is
governed by a specific planet and different provisions are designed
in a particular direction according to lord or god of that planet
in that direction. Next is geographical location, it’s relative
location within a city, atmospheric conditions of that place, quality
and consistency of the earth, its surface, inclination of the surface,
it’s auspicious and inauspicious-ness, presence of any inauspicious
material (Shalya) like bones etc., shape of the plot, area, length
and breadth ratio, other structures near it like road, temple, big
tree etc. Level of seismic activity is also considered.
WATER: Since ancient times, be it humans or other living beings,
they have colonized near water bodies like river, lake, pond well
etc. Availability and source of potable water like well, hand pump,
boring, piped water supply, direction of the water storage, direction
of the flow of used water like sever are some of the main points which
are taken care of under it. If the house is in the cold region where
snow fall takes place then roof has to be slanting and if it is in
the in the region where rain fall is scanty then provisions are made
for rain water collection and harvesting.
SUN: Our sole source of maximum free energy is the Sun and role of
proper Sunlight has been well established by the modern sciences as
well as ancients. Sunlight has three kinds of rays - they are called
ultra violet, white light and infrared rays. White light consists
of seven colours. These seven colors can be seen in the rainbow after
the rain. They are V.I.B.G.Y.O.R or Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow,
Orange, and Red. The rays shorter in wavelength than red light are
called infra red rays and longer wavelength than violet rays are called
ultra violet rays. Ultra violet rays kills harmful germs and are abundant
in the morning light. Infra red rays are harmful and are abundant
when the Sun is setting. Main door of the house, ventilation, windows,
veranda are planed accordingly to accommodate geological situation
and atmospheric conditions to maintain internal heating and cooling.
AIR: We all know that every living being requires fresh air. Its
proper circulation and its freshness has to be maintained. In order
to have proper ventilation, relative humidity, open space, veranda,
height, size and position of ventilators, windows and doors, and height
of the roof is decided.
SPACE: Internal space of a building should be utilized in such a
manner that it should not obstruct the ventilation and entry of Sun
light. Therefore the height of the ground floor, planning upper stories,
multiplex, cupboards, other internal fixtures, placement of furniture,
bed etc. are decided accordingly.
Eight directions as per Vastu shastra:
NE or Ishaan Kon (Water): Pooja room, water storage tank, boring,
lawn, portico, Drawing room, water supply connection.
East: Main gate, living room, bathroom, kitchen, guestroom, open space,
balcony, Tulsi plant.
SE or Agni Kon (Fire): Office, fire, toilet, plants, basement, stairs,
generator / inverter storeroom, clothes.
South: Bedroom, room to store heavy articles like machines etc., overhead
water tank, big trees, godown, toilet, paying guest / tenant.
SW or Nairitya Kon (Earth): Arms and ammunition, room to store raw
materials, sleeping room, room for father or elder brother, stairs,
overhead water storage tank, trees.
West: Dinning room, septic tank, stairs, water storage tank on the
ground, toilet cum bath, drawing room, living room.
NW or Vaayaya Kon (Air): Cattle and animals, grains storage, kitchen,
living room, stairs, medium sized trees.
North: Treasury, finished material store, reception room, children’s
room, recreation and entertainment room, gas plant or connection,
swimming pool.
Vaastu Shastra is 5000 years old but since the middle 1990s, there
has been a sudden interest in the subject of the vaastu shastra.
People seem to have rediscovered a long lost panacea for their ills.
All they need to do is to make a few changes to their home or office
layout and overnight, they have the health, wealth and happiness which
they lacked for so long!
Try buying a home in any city in India without the builder spouting
virtues of “Vaastu Shastra” and how his project and flats
fulfill vaastu conditions. It is impossible. Over the last decade,
vaastu shastra has gained enormous popularity. Vaastu has found takers
even among the high and mighty of the land. Corporate chieftains and
politicians in power are constantly relocating and redesigning their
offices according to vaastu shastra to see if it will improve their
financial and political scorecards.
What is this vaastu shastra all about?
Believers in vaastu shastra have a modern name for it – ‘Ancient
Wisdom of Architectonics’. There are three levels in which vaastu
shastra is applied.
Firstly, in a basic sense, it means designing architecture of residential,
commercial and government buildings and components of a building like
rooms, gates, etc on the basis of architectural wisdom contained in
ancient Indian lore. The idea is to add to the well being of the occupants.
Secondly, at a slightly higher level, vaastu covers a lot of architecture
related areas in public sphere-town planning, laying out gardens,
market places, ports, roads, bridges, gateways, wells, drains, enclosure
walls, embankments, just about everything that is built by man.
Thirdly, at the micro-level of an individual citizen’s daily
life, it deals with furniture, tables, beds, wardrobes, mats, lamps,
footwear and the like. This list is expanding by the day. For example,
vaastu experts now tell you about the right design of the computer
table and the ideal location of PC in your home office.
Architects who think vaastu shastra has no scientific basis, their
number is dwindling by the day – have two complaints against
the vaastu shastra and its modern interpretations. First, they think
that by claiming solutions in architecture and interior design for
every evil that befalls a human being, vaastu has made architects
responsible for things, which lie beyond their control. A brilliant
architect of a corporate headquarters may be blamed for the financial
misfortune of the company, for which reasons may lie elsewhere. Secondly,
the non-believers argue that vaastu shastra leads to creating structures
that are out of sync with environment.
You should have a perspective on vaastu shastra before you decide
whether to believe in it or not. For that, you need to know a bit
about how architectural ideas have evolved in India. Be patient and
control your yawns.
Indian history has three distinct architectural epochs in succession
the Vedic (or the Hindu) period, the Islamic period and the colonial
period. These three epochs are characterized by their respective myths
and cultures. In each epoch, structures were constructed that reflected
the society at the time.
For instance, the Vedic times were typically characterized by the
world of the non-manifest: buildings were generated from magic diagrams
called the ‘Vaastu-Purusha-Maddalas’, the root of vaastu
Shastra. The advent of Islam about a thousand years ago caused a fundamental
shift-from the meta-physical to the sensual and hedonistic-characterized,
for example, by the garden as an earthly image of paradise. The arrival
and consolidation of power of Europeans in India and the construction
of buildings and public spaces on European style coincided with the
Age of scientific progress and rationality. This influenced a radical
change in paradigms.
Consider this. Intricately designed and complex temple structures,
concerned with the mysterious and the metaphysical, are typical creations
of the Hindu mind of the ancient times. In contrast, simple rhythms
and expansive blank walls and the dominance of white color were attributes
of Islamic culture and buildings. The grandeur of power was reflected
in the European architecture. Modern architecture in India has imbibed
qualities of all these three epochs.
All right. So where do we place vastu shastra in this?
The first, the ancient Indian category, of course. Vastu shastra is
based on the effect of the non-manifest on the architecture and your
well-being. In ancient India, a lot of people thought that the manifest
world was only a part of their existence; there was also the world
of the non-manifest that influenced their lives. If you think that
views holds good even now, then vaastu shastra is for you.
The science of vastu shastra is indeed one of the oldest and most
powerful of our cultural inheritances. All our great rulers for the
prosperity and perpetuity of their kingdoms abundantly used vaastu
shastra in the earlier periods. Vaastu shastra was also used in town
planning and the construction of temples.
Simply stated, vastu helps us to align the energies of our house with
that of the environment. It helps us to live in consonance with nature.
Most people consult vaastu shastra only when they are in trouble or
things are not going right. This attitude is incorrect as vaastu shastra
affects the health, wealth and prosperity of the house and it’s
inhabitants.
Vaastu says... No marble please...
We see all over the World that temples, churches, mosques, gurudwara
& many religious places are made of using marble in their constructions.
White Marble is considered to be a holy stone. Vibrations for meditation
are of high quality at such places. According to ancient texts use
marble is permitted only at the religious places. We can see purity
and cleanliness is well maintained at such religious places.
In ancient time king were given the respect as God, hence we see
use of marble in palaces constructed for them. In Rajasthan, India
you can find many palaces with the use of marble. Nowadays marble
is highly used in shopping complexes & residential premises. Research
study on selected house using marble flooring shows that people staying
in such house have stressful life. The family members were victims
of frequent sickness.
In India, you can see white marble is used only at threshold (Dahlij)
of the house, which is worshipped daily by the female members of the
house. This way marble is considered holy stone for worship only.
If you have marble flooring then walking with footwear on marble
floor be avoided. Also footwear not in use should never be left over
on the marble flooring. Use of marble in the bed room, bath room and
latrine is highly inauspicious. This brings poor luck for the occupants.
White marble can only be used in prayer area of the home.
Vastu shastra In Your Kitchen
The kitchen is an extremely important part of your house and must
be given due care and respect. Most of us treat the kitchen only as
a place where food is cooked and food stocks are stored. However the
ancient percepts of vaastu accord very high significance to the kitchen
and it’s placement. It is considered a sacred place, vaastu
shastra percepts relating to the Kitchen are as follows:
The best location for the Kitchen is the Southeast.
Kitchen located in the North or the East does tend to cause financial
troubles.
The women folk should be facing the East while doing their cooking.
This is good for health.
There should be abundant use of green in the kitchen. For example
green granite for flooring or green pictures. This helps improve
the appetite of the family members and also promotes peace and harmony
in the house.
If possible, the cooking gas and the washing sink should not
be kept very close to each other. The logic being fire and water
are not comfortable close to each other.
The cooking stove should not be visible to the naked eyes from
the outside. Hence always shield the kitchen from the outsiders.
There should be no leaking taps in the kitchen. This affects the
money flow.
Wall Clocks should not be placed on the South and Southwest walls.
Kitchen is the best place to have your daily meals; but never
face South while having your meals it creates stomach disorders,
indigestion and other related problems.
Vastu shastra In Your Bedroom
After a whole busy day you expect a complete rest for your body &
mind. And bedroom is the place where you get the relief from your
stress, workout and other tension. So it becomes very necessary to
take utmost care while placing the interiors for your bedroom according
to the vaastu shastra percepts. Some general vaastu shastra principles
relating to the Bedroom are as follows:
The master bedroom is the place where the head of the family gets
peace and privacy. Thus it is preferred in the Southwest or South
since it is considered to be cool place.
Avoid constructing the master bedroom in the Northeast direction.
Southeast is also not recommended for this room.
While placing mirror in your bedroom see to it that no part of
your body is directly visible in the mirror while sleeping. Because
that part of your body might face health problems e.g. if your head
is visible in the mirror while sleeping it may cause migraine or
if your legs are visible then you may face problem such as joints
pain, etc.
Always keep your feet away from the main door, while sleeping
it should not face the main door.
Place the bed in the Southwest of the room but it should not
obstruct the door of the room.
Do not sleep keeping your head towards the north.
Avoid having bedroom near the drawing room.
Always keep room well-maintained, along with some scenery. Keep
it well-lit and pleasant looking.
Always sleep with your head towards south.
See that the bed never touches the wall.
Vastu shastra In Dining Room
Vaastu shastra says the dining room should be located on the west side of the house, or on the east or north side of the building.
If the kitchen is on the ground floor, the dining room should not be on an upper floor but should also be located on the ground floor.
The door leading into the dining room should be on the east, north, or west side of the room. It should not have arches.
The house’s main entrance door should not face the dining room’s door.
It is best to face east or west while eating. The head of the family should face east during meals. Other members of the family can face east, north, or west, but it is not advisable to face south.
As per Vaastu shastra the dining table should not be round or oval but either square or rectangular. It should not fold from the wall or be attached to the wall.
A sink can be located in the northeast corner of the dining room, or on the north or east sides of the room.
No toilets should be attached to the dining room.
Vastu shastra In Study Room
The library or study should be located on the west side of the building, but should not be located in the corners of the house.
When using a library or study, it is best to sit facing east or north.
The bookshelves should not be in the northwest or southwest corner.
Books should be in the east, north, or west sides of the room.
The door should be two-shuttered and should be located in the northeast, north, or west.
Windows can be set on the east, north, or west walls.
The walls should be painted white, sky blue, cream, or light green.
If one will not sleep in the room, a pyramidal shape (walls sloping inward as they go upward towards the ceiling) will help study and meditation.
Free vastu shastra e-book:
If this information was interesting to you then you deserve our FREE
Vaastu e-Book as a gift. All you need to do is
with subject "My Free Vastu Shastra E-Book Gift" with your
opinion and suggestions about this section of our web site.
Home
About
Us
Site
Map
FAQs
Contact
Us
Add
to favorites
Print
Home
