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.
Related questions
Can remedies done after construction fully activate the 45 devtas?
No. A lot of misleading talk goes around about the 45 devtas. The maximum remedy has to be done when the land is prepared and built on; the other remedies taught for later cannot activate a devta 100% and bring it only to about 30 to 35%.
Does the relationship with the Vastu Devtas end once the vastu pooja is done at the start of construction?
No. A farmer who sows a seed does not end his bond with it there: he protects, waters and nurtures it until it flowers, fruits and grows into a shady tree, even a kalpavriksha (wish-fulfilling tree). In the same way, Indian architecture holds that a structure of stone and lime is not lifeless; prana settles into the building and its soil and controls the feelings of the people who live there, so the devtas established in the land must keep being nurtured.
If only part of a plot is to be built, where are the devtas marked?
If construction covers only part of the plot with space left all around, the 45 devtas are allocated on the whole plot and their places are selected on it.
What should be done if the shilanyas (foundation stone) has been laid in the wrong direction?
Fix a fresh auspicious muhurta for shilanyas, dissolve (khandit) the earlier one, and perform it again in the new muhurta. It is dissolved the way an installed kalash is removed: by addressing the devtas who supported the earlier shilanyas with a request about it.
When do the Vastu Devtas have the greatest effect, and when should they be established?
Students answered griha pravesh and bhoomi poojan, which is only partly right: the greatest effect comes at the garbh vinyas or shilanyas, the day the land is taken over and the foundation is laid. Then the pishach, manushya, dev and brahma bhoomi are marked, the vastu pooja is done and every devta, 32 in the pishach bhoomi and the rest inside, is worshipped at its own place with its samagri, following the vidhi. A child cannot be born without a seed in the womb, and food works only through the mouth, not the ear or nose, so the biggest pooja, havan and sthapana belong to that day; building over the devtas afterwards is like tethering a cow first and then building its shed. Done later, remedies bring back only about 35% of that role, though even 5% is a lot.
A bone was found on a plot meant for an industry. What must be done before building there?
Removing the bone is not enough; the land needs its rites, just as a house is purified after a death. Do a vastu registry with five coconuts (four corners and the bone spot), remove the affected soil, do agni sanskar with mango wood, ghee and camphor in 16 places and float the ash in flowing water, purify with water and mantra, sprinkle gomutra and plaster with cow dung, put lime and sulphur in the pit, keep a lamp burning there for 24 hours, and mix a little mercury into the soil and the four corners. If the shilanyas had already been done, it is broken and must be redone after purification.