The Dos and Don’ts of Vastu for a New Home

Vastu is a Sanskrit word meaning house and vastu shastra is the study of an architecture according to ancient scriptures. Today, vastu divides homeowners into two camps – the believers and the non-believers. While the former insist that the principles of vastu are scientific, the latter refute it.

What does vastu involve? Developed in ancient India, Vastu is firmly based on the movements of natural elements and energies found on earth. In other words, it tries to align lifestyles to the natural energies in our surroundings and is based on the assumption that the earth is a living organism. Vastu attempts to achieve a balanced life for the residents of a house by harmonising it with the earth to the best extent possible.

While there are no hard and fast rules, vastu shastra strongly advocates for and against certain aspects in a home for that reason. Here, we list out a few of them.

Directional guidance

One of the key points that new homes advertise is the direction to which it faces. Builders proudly declare if their new apartment complex has “east-facing apartments.” The east is the most preferred direction because it belongs to the sun, which translates into light, energy, and power.

The general belief is that the south-west direction should be avoided entirely as it is ruled by the planet Rahu, which brings about loss of money or health issues. Therefore, homebuyers are commonly advised to avoid placing water-related fixtures like a borewell or a sump, car parks or a kitchen in this direction as these are potential sources of danger.

Avoid placing bedrooms facing north

One of the standard rules we hear from vastu believers is to avoid sleeping with your head facing the north. The earth’s magnetic poles are located in the north and south, and since our body contains iron, it is believed that the strong magnetic energy that occurs will affect the blood in our bodies over time. It affects circulation, and if the pull is strong or long enough it can also cause haemorrhaging according to vastu experts.

Vastu compliant colours

Colours are proven to have beneficial or adverse impacts on people. In vastu, the right colours can have an effect on the energies in the home. Each direction in vastu shastra is associated with a particular colour related to the appropriate natural elements. For instance, the east is synonymous with the sun and fire, and hence colours like yellow, pink, and blue will suit this direction. The west is associated with the element of water, and therefore colours like blue or white will be most suited.

The direction of each room in your house is dependent on many factors, and colours can enhance the effectiveness of the direction. Vastu experts usually prefer light shades, avoiding darker ones, which are believed to disrupt and overpower the flow of energy in the house with their intensity.

Kitchens and cooking activities

Kitchens or any cooking-related activity should ideally be avoided in the south-east direction as it’s believed to be in the path of Agni, the god of fire.

However, a more rational explanation could be that the blasts of the South Westerly winds that sweep through houses during the monsoon could fan the flames in the kitchen and cause a fire. On the other hand, cooking causes smoke and placing the kitchen in the east, or northeasterly direction ensures that the air is cleared by the gentle ‘purvai’ or North Easterly winds.

Although it has its roots in construction in the olden times when houses were made of flammable material, the observation could still be relevant today.

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