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'. Its 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. Its 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, its relative location within a city, atmospheric conditions
of that place, quality and consistency of the earth, its surface, inclination of the surface,
its 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:

1. NE or Ishaan Kon (Water): Pooja room, water storage tank, boring, lawn, portico,
Drawing room, water supply connection.
2. East: Main gate, living room, bathroom, kitchen, guestroom, open space, balcony,
Tulsi plant.
3. SE or Agni Kon (Fire): Office, fire, toilet, plants, basement, stairs, generator /
inverter storeroom, clothes.
4. South: Bedroom, room to store heavy articles like machines etc., overhead water
tank, big trees, godown, toilet, paying guest / tenant.
5. 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.
6. West: Dinning room, septic tank, stairs, water storage tank on the ground, toilet
cum bath, drawing room, living room.
7. NW or Vaayaya Kon ( Air ): Cattle and animals, grains storage, kitchen, living
room, stairs, medium sized trees.
8. North: Treasury, finished material store, reception room, childrens 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 citizens 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 nonmanifest: buildings were generated from magic diagrams called the Vaastu-PurushaMaddalas, 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 hedonisticcharacterized, 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 its
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 its placement. It is considered a sacred place, vaastu shastra percepts relating
to the Kitchen are as follows:
1. The best location for the Kitchen is the Southeast.
2. Kitchen located in the North or the East does tend to cause financial troubles.
3. The women folk should be facing the East while doing their cooking. This is good
for health.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. The cooking stove should not be visible to the naked eyes from the outside. Hence
always shield the kitchen from the outsiders.
7. There should be no leaking taps in the kitchen. This affects the money flow.
8. Wall Clocks should not be placed on the South and Southwest walls.
9. 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:
1. 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.
2. Avoid constructing the master bedroom in the Northeast direction. Southeast is
also not recommended for this room.
3. 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.
4. Always keep your feet away from the main door, while sleeping it should not face
the main door.
5. Place the bed in the Southwest of the room but it should not obstruct the door of
the room.
6. Do not sleep keeping your head towards the north.
7. Avoid having bedroom near the drawing room.
8. Always keep room well-maintained, along with some scenery. Keep it well-lit and
pleasant looking.
9. Always sleep with your head towards south.
10. See that the bed never touches the wall.
Free vastu shastra tips: BUYING A FLAT?
Here are some things that you should watch out for when you are house-hunting. These
days people purchase a flat/ apartment for different reasons, like safety, economy,
proximity to the office, business and city center etc. Since independent houses or
bungalows are so expensive in the center of the city, people opt for purchasing flats.
Some of the general vaastu shastra rules for purchasing flats are:

Select a site that slopes down to the north and or to the east.
It is always advisable to go in for a site, which is either a square or a rectangle.
Avoid sites in the vicinity of temples and nears or on burial grounds.
Before construction remove all dirt, hair and other waste from the plot completely,
Chemical treatment is must.
Always have a square water tank.
Tall buildings, hills and mounds at the southern and western side show prosperity.
Buying a new piece of land towards the north, northeast or east of existing plot
either adjacent or a little away ensures all-round success.
For a rectangular site the length should be twice the width.
Roads towards north and east side should be lower than the corresponding site
levels.
Examination of the side and energy patron is another important aspect of vaastu
shastra.

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