The Place where a person lives and work called Vastu. According to Indian ancient classical texts Vastu means appropriate land for house. All types of houses, buildings, cities, forts, bungalow industries where ever a person lives or works called Vastu.
Vastu Shastra is one of the ancient teachings from the Indian civilization. It deals with the science of the architecture and tells how a building should be planned to channelize the positive energy in our lives. The proper implementation of Vastu techniques has brought peace and prosperity to many households for centuries. Though Vastu started out with the construction rules for Hindu temples, it soon branched out to residential houses, office buildings, vehicles, sculpture, paintings, furniture etc. The science of Vastu is mostly based on directions and the building materials used, along with many other minor factors. There are five elements that are really important in Vastu Shastra.
These are 1. Earth 2. Water3. Fire 4. Air 5. Space
According to the traditional knowledge, the entire universe around us is made up of these five basic elements. In fact, the five elements of the nature have to be coordinated with the five elements of the human body as well. This coordination is critical as this is what makes human relationship harmonious. Knowledge of the elements can really make it beneficial for people to know more about Vastu Shastra and also help them realize the reason why they have to make certain changes in the house or put certain things in certain places. The elements can determine the way particular directions interact with particular objects or certain kinds of people.
SITE ORIENTATION
Site Orientation refers to the location or position of the Site with respect to the cardinal directions(or the points of the Compass). The Site’s orientation is identified by the direction that the front of the Site faces i.e. the side facing the road. So, when you stand in the Site and face the road, the directon you face is said to be the Site’s orientation. Therefore, a Site with a road in the East, is called a East facing Site. Explained here is the Vastu Principle – Orientation which is one of the five Vastu Principles used as a reference guide for designing and planning proportionate, aesthetic and beautiful buildings with the right measurements. Since Vastu is a science, it is based on logic and reasoning.
SITE PLANNING
The ancient Indian text Mayamatam on Vastu Sastra, written thousands of years ago, explains the legend of the Vastu Purusha. According to Hindu mythology, in the beginning Brahma the creator of the Universe, experimented with a new creature. He created a large cosmic man, who grew rapidly as he began to demolish everything in his path to satisfy his voracious hunger. When he became unmanageably big so that his shadow fell on the Earth like a permanent eclipse, the gods Shiva and Vishnu asked Brahma to do something before everything was destroyed by this Creature.
Brahma realised his mistake and called the Astha Dikapalakas – the Gods of the eight cardinal directions. Together, they overpowered the monster and held it flat against the Earth while Brahma placed on its middle. Then the Monster cried out to Brahma, “You created me like this. So why am I being punished?” Brahma offered him a compromise and made the Monster immortal with the boon that he would be worshiped by any mortal that builds a structure on earth. He was named Vastu Purusha. Vastu Shastra gives the directive principles regarding construction of buildings so as not to displease the Vastu Purusha. These principles are explained with the help of the diagram called the Vastu Purusha Mandala.
DIMENSION
It is advisable to apply Vastu principles and tips to the design of the building. This will ensure a proportionate, aesthetic and beautiful building with the right measurements. The Vastu principle ‘Aayadi – dimensions’ prescribes six formulae to work out the right dimensions (length, breadth and height) of a building Though the science of Vastu follows generic rules for the design of spaces, a specific set of six formulae called Aayadi are used to work out the Length, Breadth, perimeter, area and the height of the building. Here, the length and breadth mean the outer measurements of the foundation seen above the ground. The height of the building is considered to be from the bottom of the base to the topmost point of the building. Like the other Vaastu principles, it was necessary that one follows the Aayadi formulae strictly in order to experience positive effects within the building. In fact even today, most of the corporate companies , big industries, westerners follow Aayadi Principles. Aayadi is the only aspect of Vaastu Shastra that is followed in many parts of India.
The application of Vastu Shastra is a Vedic science and architectural technology that is not time related, but eternal. The ancient Vastu architects were aware of structural engineering and construction technologies that are being used even today, so the question of Vastu Shastra being outdated or outmoded doesn’t arise. It can be said that the Vastu Shastra of modern day architecture is similar to the ancient science, only difference is in the way of approaching the concepts. This infers that unknowingly, we are still following the ancient science as derived from the Vedic sutras.
