Also known astemple vastupuja gharmandir
Mixing a handful to about a kilo of a chosen soil into the flooring raises the energy for a purpose: cowshed, mountain or elephant-stable soil for peace, yellow soil for business, white or yellow soil for homes, and pilgrimage or river soil for temples.
Flooring of the house, factory or temple
A painting of Om forms placed on the eight petals of a lotus (four directions and four vidishas), with the ancient Om at the top; it distributes the energy of Om in all eight directions.
Temples, home puja room, children's study area
The sun's movement from East to West creates a magnetic effect with North and South poles. A plot, building, room or hall whose North-South axis is longer (chandra-bhedi) holds the strongest magnetic field, giving attraction and concentration; one whose East-West axis is longer is called surya-bhedi.
Plots, buildings, rooms, halls, classrooms and office chambers
Every plot is divided into pads (sections) according to its use: 81 pads for a residence, 64 pads for a temple or religious place, and a separate layout for a town. Directions are further divided into 16 and 32 parts, down to 11.25 degrees, on which the 45 Vastu devtas are marked.
Raj Vallabh states that a temple with a large river flowing to its South becomes not merely a tirth but a mahatirth, because for a temple the water element stands for peace. Rules made for homes must not be applied mechanically to temples.
Temples with a river to the South
Vastu was traditionally divided into eight branches, among them griha (home), yantra, nagar (town), bhoomi (land), prasad (temple), vimaan (aircraft) and udyan (garden and tree) Vastu. None of them advises demolition.
A circular plot is bad for homes and business but the best for temples and auspicious for a parliament. A pentagonal plot should never be bought, while a hexagonal plot with equal sides is never bad and suits temples, certain businesses and schools.
Whole plot or building
A plot touching a temple wall on the deity's left side, or behind the deity's back, should not be taken even free, for a home or a business. The deity's right side is good if the walls do not touch, and the front is good only beyond double the distance.
Plots adjoining a temple
A square plot with equal length and width is the best of all. In a rectangle, a longer North-South axis makes a Chandra bhedi plot that suits homes, while a longer East-West axis suits temples but brings some unrest to a home.
Whole plot
The shadow of a temple's shikhar or dhwaj must never fall on a house during the second and third pahar, 9 am to 3 pm. It ruins the household, whatever the temple: Jain, Vaishnav, Ram, Brahma, Mahadev or Durga.
Houses near a temple
Pad vinyas divides a plot into equal squares (padas) occupied by the vastu devtas, and the number of padas depends on what is being built: 49 for reconstruction, 64 for towns and certain temples, 81 for houses and cowsheds, 100 for all temples, and up to 1000 for a fort.
About two hours before sunrise the sun sends ultraviolet rays into the North-East, which bring the greatest alertness to the neurons and glial cells of the brain. This pure energy suits the pure soul, so the North-East is the zone of clarity of mind and the place for worship.
North-East zone: puja place
Both grids hold the same 45 vastu devtas, but the 81-pada mandala is used for homes and business premises while the 64-pada mandala is used for temples, villages, palaces (raj mandir), towns and city gates.
Homes and businesses (81 pada); temples, villages, palaces, towns and city gates (64 pada)
Paintings, carvings, idols, elevations and domes are made to change the mind (chitt) through images (chitra); temple interiors and exteriors were designed to balance elements, planets and forces and even to influence the devtas.
Interior walls, elevations and exteriors
The puja room is made in the Ishaan (North-East) because it is Jupiter's location; its energy calms the mind, builds concentration and turns it to devotion.
North-East (Ishaan)
The best place for a home temple is the West with the deities facing East, as in the great temples; SW and WSW also work, and a Saraswati temple suits WSW. Keep the shikhar small, never hang consecrated idols, and stand elephant figures on a solid base.
West, SW or WSW, deities facing East
West is pure and sacred: goddesses live here, it is Shani's place, and Varun devta, the wealthiest devta, resides here with Pushpadant, so it is the zone of gain and profit. It suits bedrooms, tijori, temple and overhead tank, but must never be dug, dirtied or kept low.
West zone of the house
The deity faces East first and North second, never South; the worshipper faces North for wealth, East for spiritual progress and South or West for tantra, and before a consecrated idol all directions become zero.
Home temple, puja room and festival puja
Each zone suits a particular worship: North for Saraswati and Ganesh, NNE for pranic sadhana, NE and East for meditation, South for Hanuman and Devi, West best of all, while SE, SSE and SSW suit no puja.
Best: West. By deity: North, NNE, NE, East, South, SW (ancestors), WSW, WNW, NW, NNW. No puja: SE, SSE, SSW.
Torans are chosen by the purpose and work of the place: flower torans for a king-like life and respect, stone torans for palaces, forts and soldiers, a special toran for treasuries and finance work, and gem (ratna) torans for the home temple.
Main doors, city gates, treasury doors and the home temple
Marble is pure calcium carbonate that absorbs all the energy around it, which makes it ideal for temples but unsuitable for an entire home.
Temples, puja room, at most one drawing room
Pictures of God should be complete with the feet clearly visible, never cut-outs; the deity should face North-East, while devis and devtas can face West.
Deity faces North-East; devis may face West
Square and rectangular mirrors are very good, but triangular and pointed-end mirrors are harmful, and mirrors cut into small pieces for scenery or glass temples (kaanch mandir) turn an auspicious item into an inauspicious one.
Whole house and interiors
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.
From the deity. Imagine the deity seated facing out: do not live on the deity's own left side, while the deity's right side is very good. On either side your wall must not touch the temple wall; if you leave a gap and build your own separate wall there is no negative effect, though the right side still gives the better results. Many people living on the left, touching the temple wall, have been ruined.
No. With a road in between there is no defect.
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.
A sunken courtyard in the centre suits only a temple. In homes the courtyards were actually built raised, with a boundary all around and a tulsi platform in the middle, so they were not counted as a defect.
Exactly as for any plot; flats, industries and every other building follow the same method. Finding the centre of a flat can be hard, so use AutoCAD or the paper method for irregular shapes. Only a temple differs, because it uses the 64 pad grid, where North falls between N4 and N5.
Both the 81-pada and the 64-pada grids carry the 45 devtas. The 81-pada vastu is used for homes and business premises, while the 64-pada vastu is used for temples, villages, royal palaces (raj mandir) and towns, including a town gate. This course teaches the 45 devtas on the 81-pada grid.
To change the mind (chitt) through images (chitra), even the minds of the devtas. Agni is regarded as a virgin goddess who feels shy on seeing such scenes, so lightning has never struck these temples, and the pleasure-loving Indra, lord of rain, is pleased and gives Khajuraho good rain; tribal women still plough naked under the moonlight when rain fails. The kings also wanted their heirs not to become ascetics.
No cement or adhesive was used: male stones were joined into female stones, an example of the physical property of materials. The temples were also oriented so that the sun's rays fall first at the deity's feet and, as the sun reaches the South-East, at another deity's feet.
Elephant figures should stand on something solid, not hang in the air. The temple can stay, but a temple with elephants is better placed in the West.
A small temple at home should not have a big dome or shikhar; keep it small.
Hanging is ruled out for consecrated deities: if the idols are pran-pratishthit (consecrated), they must never hang.