What is Vastu Shashtra ?

Vastu Shastra is a very old Indian science of Architecture. Ancient Indian sages and rishis created Vastu Shastra for the welfare of the entire humanity. Its knowledge enables us to get benefits of mental peace, health, wealth etc. and make our life happy.

In ancient times the human habitats were generally constructed according to the rules of Vastu Shastra and people lived happily. In those days the members of a joint family used to be content, prosperous and happy. But, today, despite the families being small, peace and happiness remains a far cry. As times advanced, we started ignoring our old culture and tradition. The rules of Vastu Shastra too were ignored. No wonder the people experienced all kinds of troubles. You will be surprised to note that even today the residents of South India follow the rules of the Vastu shastra and are more peaceful and materialistically and economically more prosperous than North India.

This science, after propounding the rules of construction, goes to prove that by constructing properly our buildings, villages, towns, cities, shops, offices, factories and industries we can make ourselves prosperous.
The Vastu Shastra is founded upon the laws of nature. The equilibrium, significance of it can very well be noted from the movements of motorcars, ships, airoplaines, trains. The Buses are so accurately balanced that even deflation in any one of the tyres, can cause a serious accident if it is running at a high speed. Similarly, when a building is constructed without observing the rules of Vastu Shastra, various calamities, diseases and accidents take place. This is the eternal rule of nature and it has no place for any logic, doubt or debate.

Energy Flow

The directions of East and West are important as far as obtaining the energy from the sun is concerned. The importance of the directions of the North and the South lies in the flow of magnetic waves which flows from North Pole to South Pole. Therefore southward portion of every building should be higher than the northward portion.

Importance of Five Elements

Earth

The selection of site for building construction is very important. Besides, congenial environment, greenery and availability of water, we should also see if the land is suitable for building construction.

Water

As far as the flow of domestic water is concerned, it should be borne in mind and that such water should be drained out in North - East. Wells, tubewells, swimming pools etc. should all be in the North-East. The water from the toilets and bathrooms, too, should be drained out in the North- East. The North-East direction is always auspicious and suitable for water. There are sewer-systems in the cities. The Septic tanks or the flow of sewer systems should be towards North - West. The flow of rain or fresh water should be towards North- East.

Fire

The direction of Fire is South-East. The Kitchen, fireplace, geysers etc. should be placed only in this direction. Alternatively these could be placed in North-West, because it is at 180 degree to South-East.

Air

The air should enter the building from North -East. All the openings and media for air entry such as doors, windows, ventilators coolers, air-conditioners, verandahs, balconies etc. should be in this directions.

Space

The open sky influences greatly. We can get the effect of terrestrial-energies uninterruptedly. But the buildings prove a barrier to the effects of open sky. Therefore, the importance of roofs or lawns gets emphasized, but the Vastu shastra has refrained from deliberating in detail over it, because it is related chiefly to building construction and we will discuss only this aspect. Traditionally every house in India used to have an open space (Court Yard) in the center of the house. It provided the dwellers not only the open sky but also sunlight and cross-ventilation of air.