Vastu Shastra
Vastu Shastra is 5000 years old but since the middle 1990s, there has
been a sudden interest in the subject of the Vastu Shastras. 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 “Vastu Shastra” and how his project and flats fulfill Vastu
conditions. It is impossible. Over the last decade, Vastu has gained enormes
popularity. Vastu 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 Vastu Shastra to see if it
will improve their financial and political scorecards.
What is this Vastu Shastra all about?
Believers in Vastu have a modern name for it – ‘Ancient
Wisdom of Architectonics’. There are three levels in which Vastu
is applied.
First, 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, Vastu 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, Vastu 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 Vastu has no scientific basis-their number is dwindling
by the day – have two complaints against the 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, Vastu 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 Vastu leads to creating structures
that are out of sync with environment.
You should have a perspective on Vastu 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 ‘Vastu-Purusha-Maddalas’, the root of Vastu 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 in this?
The first, the ancient Indian category, of course. Vastu 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 Vastu 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 Vastu in the earlier
periods. It 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 Vastu only when they are in trouble or things are
not going right. This attitude is incorrect as Vastu affects the health,
wealth and prosperity of the house and it’s inhabitants.
Vastu 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 Vastu accord very high significance to the kitchen and it’s placement.
It is considered a sacred place.
Vastu 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 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 Vastu
percepts.
Vastu percepts relating to the Bedroom are as follows:
1) 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.
2) Always keep your feet away from the main door i.e. while sleeping it
should not face the main door.
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