Vastu Shastra as I understand it

Vastu Shastra, the ancient treatise on building science is a most misunderstood set of planning guidelines. A little similar to modern bye laws, the Vastu Shastra incorporated designing guidelines keeping in mind the society prevalent then and to make the microenvironment in step with the macroenvironment, essentially the local climate and weather patterns and the forces of the earth (gravitational/magnetic). The best way to make the ancients believe in the treatise was to put the fear of God and demon into their head. There is also a part of it that falls into the realms of the mystic. And these are the aspects that have been misinterpreted buy the esoteric to often mislead the common man. Much like astrology, palmistry and other mystical sciences, Vastu Shastra also has aspects that can be explained using logic and reasoning complete with scientific proofs and those that relate to hidden forces and fall in to the realm of the hitherto unknown and consequently beyond science.
I refer to Vastu Shastra as a study in climatology. Over the years, I have come in contact with various people who have had a more scientific approach to the subject and have tried to interpret it thus. I have also tried to reason a few of these guidelines myself. The following are the result of such studies and I hope to throw light on some of the reasoning behind the cryptic Vastu Shastra.


WHAT VASTHU SPECIFIES
The centre of the house should be open. It represented the Brahmam and/or the navel of the Vastu Purusha.
POSSIBLE INTERPRETATION
The open space was nothing else but a courtyard in the centre, which was to be open to sky. A courtyard is a very important climatic feature, both for hot as well as humid climate. It enforced a good deal of cross ventilation thus alleviating the discomfort in extreme weather. Most vernacular styles in India incorporate the courtyard for the same reason. It might also be important in the scenario of ancient planning where houses were built close by for security. A courtyard took care of privacy along with adequate light and ventilation.
IT’S RELEVANCE TODAY
The courtyard has almost completely disappeared from modern planning thanks to the vertical growth of our cities. In an apartment scenario, a private courtyard in every house is an impossibility, although an open to sky atrium is often planned. In contemporary planning, few architects incorporate the courtyard in private houses. Another point to consider is that an open courtyard is an unsafe option in today’s world of thefts and robbery. Consequently the character of a courtyard has changed into a grilled light well. But all the same a courtyard can create dramatic spaces and openness.

WHAT VASTHU SPECIFIES
The North East is the Eeshan corner and is the location for the source of water.
POSSIBLE INTERPRETATION
North East corner is the coolest and the brightest part of the house. It receives the cooler ultra violet rays of the morning. These rays have medicinal property. The idea of a source of water, in those days used to be a well or a tank and its location in this corner probably was specified so that the ultraviolet rays cleansed the water.
IT’S RELEVANCE TODAY
The source of water is no longer the well particularly in cities. Usually it’s a water tank made of RCC or a bore well which is not exposed to the elements.

WHAT VASTHU SPECIFIES
The kitchen should be in the south east corner of the house, also called the Agni moola
POSSIBLE INTERPRETATION
If you study the wind pattern prevalent in India, the direction of wind ranges from the SW to the NE. The direction with the least or no wind is the SE corner. Consequently this is the hottest and driest corner of the house. In olden days, before the cooking gas or stove, people cooked on traditional stoves fueled by burning wood and charcoal. These produced lot of smoke. Placing the kitchen in the SE direction thus prevented the cooking fumes and smoke from entering the rest of the house and the wind coming into the house from other directions entered the kitchen and pushed the smoke out.
IT’S RELEVANCE TODAY
Cooking has become smokeless with the advent of cooking gas and microwave and the direction loses its relevance in an apartment complex (non existent in olden days) but if you are planning a single storied house, kitchen in the SE corner is a good bet. It also ensures that a habitable room is away from the hottest corner.

WHAT VASTHU SPECIFIES
The SW corner should be the most elevated corner of the house while the NE corner should be the lowest.
POSSIBLE INTERPRETATION
This ensures that the central courtyard gets the morning sunshine which is beneficial for health and the afternoon heat of the setting sun from the SW is blocked out.
IT’S RELEVANCE TODAY
Again this principle can be followed in today’s planning particularly if a central courtyard has been planned. This will make a huge difference to the ambient temperature of the interiors making cooling mediums more effective. With effective climate sensitive planning, the dependency on air conditioning is reduced which is a good measure in today’s power starved urban conglomeration.