Don't termites attack mud walls?
Not because they are mud: termites attack wood and cement walls as well. Termites come wherever negativity settles, and injecting mercury into the ground keeps them away. Mud is the strongest adhesive, and a room built with mud in place of cement mortar, especially in the North-East, holds the most energy and removes many North-East doshas.
Related questions
How can one tell whether Shikhi devta is activated?
Three tests. Offer nine aahuti of half a spoon of desi cow ghee with half a spoon of rice over burning Bhimseni kapoor: if the ghee fragrance spreads through the whole house up to the pishach bhoomi, the devta is active. A ghee diya at the spot that burns longer than the same ghee lasts elsewhere also shows activation. Sow wheat in soil in a leaf dona, as in Navratri: jaware about 11 inches long in seven days mean full activation, about 7 inches mean moderate, and then the activation methods should be done.
Like a well, should a furnace (bhatti) also not be closed without the permission of Agni devta?
Yes, a carelessly closed bhatti can ruin a whole generation. Dig out the soil all around it and throw it away, and only then close it.
Many people build the North-East part of the floor about a foot lower. Is that right?
Yes, lowering the floor level in the North-East causes no problem.
Should all the rooms of a house, apart from the bathroom, be at the same level?
Yes, all rooms should be at one level. A slope toward the North-East causes no problem, because the earth itself is tilted about 23.4 degrees toward the North-East and following nature counts as level; a slope in any other direction causes trouble.
Some people deliberately build the house with the North-East extended. Does that increase the energy?
Yes. Extending the North-East of the land from the foundation enlarges the place of its devta, who is pleased just as a person is with a bigger room, and it does not bring a South-East negative. But what truly counts as an extended North-East is taught later, because many people extend it the wrong way, for example from the East toward the North-East, and harm themselves.
Why did builders in earlier times leave the plinth for one season after the garbh vinyas?
After the digging and the garbh vinyas, the plinth beam was raised and then left for one season, about three months. The secret was to let the sun, the moon, the 27 nakshatras and the 9 planets fully work on the land whose devtas had been worshipped, so that the soil became charged and energised before building went on.