Vaastu shastra
March 2016
The Indian cousin of the Chinese Feng Shui, Vaastu Shastra is an ancient text on architecture. Even though it has been around in India for a long time, Vaastu caught on in a big way during the 1990s.
Vaastu means physical environment. Vaastu-shastra (knowledge) or vaastu-shilpa (architecture) codifies the traditional Indian canons of town planning and architecture. Texts such as Manasara Silpa Shastra (by Manasara), Mayamatam (by Maya), Viswakarma Vaastushastra (by Viswakarma), Samarangana Sutradara (by Raja Bhoja), Aparajita Praccha (by Viswakarma's son Aparajita) and Silparatna, among others, are some of the authentic works on the subjects. It's basically a science which governs the optimum use of air, light and space for comfortable living. It is believed that constructing a place according to the tenets of vaastu ensures harmony with the physical and metaphysical forces of the cosmos such as the gravitational, electromagnetic and supernatural. According to modern historians, this science developed in India during 3,000 BC. Being a technical subject, it was handed over generations verbally or in the form of hand-written monographs to architects (sthapathis). These principles of construction, architecture and sculpture were incorporated in the construction of temples and royal palaces. The excavated cities of Harappa and Mahenjodaro bear testimony to this fact. The Matsya Purana mentions 17 preceptors of vaastu - Bhugu, Atri, Vasista, Viswakarma, Maya, Narada, Nagnajit, Visalaksha, Purandara, Brahma, Kumaraswamy, Nandisa, Sounaka, Bhargava, Vasudeva, Aniruddha, Sukra and Bruhaspathi.