What is the effect of a deep pit or a large pond to the South of a temple?
It harms the temple. It is not a direct problem for the person who had the temple built, but the shilpi (temple architect) who builds vastu defects into a temple also has to bear their ill effects.
Related questions
If a house faces South or West, must its slope also be toward the South-West, as in many houses?
There are two types of slope, which will be covered again. If water flows underground toward the South, it is not a big defect: electricity and water move underground everywhere without regard to direction, so an underground flow against the ideal direction does not create a dosh. People living where underground water flows to the South and West are also found to be happy.
In my East-facing house the temple had to be on the North wall, so the gods face South; is that wrong?
Do not make the gods face South; it brings heaviness, for example interviews go well but give no result. Place them on the West wall instead so that they face East.
My bedroom is in the South and its floor also slopes to the South. What should I do?
That is wrong; correct the slope first, because slope matters most. More important than treatments such as changing the sleeping zone is maintaining the slope of the room, which alone removes about 60 percent of the dosh.
Our rented house had the South and West very low and the North and East high; my husband's work stopped and loans piled up. Our present house also slopes to the South with water collecting there. What can be done?
Such slopes explain the trouble. How to correct the slope fully, or partly when a full correction is not possible, is taught in the treatment classes. Slope plays a very big role: maintaining the slope alone removes about 50 percent of zone defects.
The floor from South to West should be raised to hold the energy. Should a balcony on that side also be raised?
Yes, a balcony on that side should not be low; keep it higher, though level also works. Another principle also works: raise the centre and slope the floor toward all directions, which makes kurma prishtha (tortoise-back) land.
What happens to a temple that has a big river flowing to its South?
Most people answer that it would fail, but Raj Vallabh says such a temple becomes not just a tirth but a mahatirth, because for a temple water is the element of peace. Nemawar and Siddhavarkoot near Omkareshwar, with rivers to their South, are among the most powerful places.