The Importance of Indian Vastu Shastra in Modern Architecture

BY MASUD RANA · JANUARY 10, 2017

Cultural influences have to a large extent influenced all aspects of contemporary life, which
include practically all responses of people to technological and financial evolution.
“What is a Culture?” Dance, music, clothing, food, all these are the most obvious and
tangible bookmarks in our books of evolution, anchoring us to a certain place and time in
History. What happens when we as a people allow these bookmarks to fly off in the winds
that blow from afar? When the anchor chains snap and we are adrift in what we see as the
world where only change does not change?

Vaastu Shastra

We look for other points of reference within the constraints of the state of flux to anchor
ourselves to, in order to assure us that we still imbibe those qualities for which our civilisation
stood for thousands of years. It is an attempt to find that identity that we feel we have lost. In
this regard, unlike most of the west, where history is measured in centuries, we are between
the horns of a dilemma.

What is Vastu Shastra?

Our history is not a simple linear progression from discovery to the present day but is a
civilisation that has evolved for thousands of years and is a complex web of influences and
practices that are truly global. Then what exactly do we call Indian? The Vedic period is the
period of Indian evolution of which we can boast of as being the most advanced in the world
at that time, in philosophy, mathematics, science and theology.

Those points of reference present themselves to us as adaptations of practices and if I may

call them, cultural nuances, from the past in a manner that they may be inserted into a
thoroughly chaotic and accidental lifestyle, albeit in a suitably palatable manner. So much so
that the west finds India in particular, and the East in general as a sort of spiritual dustbin.

The science of Vastushastra and its sudden emergence as an architectural movement in

recent times is one such tangible proof of our search for Indianness. Vastushastra, in Vedic
times, was not a part of the architecture. It was Architecture! Vastushastra in Sanskrit means
architecture, not a piecemeal adaptation or a fashion statement. True Vastushastra takes
into account materials, context, climate, orientation, the then prevalent sociocultural fabric,
and it all has a sound scientific basis. Vastushastra has been called an art, but it is first a
science and only after that does its aesthetics come to the fore.

Origin of Vastu Shastra

To explore the science, let us travel thousands of years ago. Yes, to an age before cell
phones and the World Wide Web! The typical Vedic village was an organic development that
was governed by constraints of a rigid class structure, a well-defined administrative and
financial hierarchy, and a vast pantheon of Gods that influenced all aspects of life.
The typical Vedic settlement was a construction in stone, wood and mud and the lives of the
inhabitants revolved around the natural cycles of day and night, of summer and winter, of the
cycles of the moon. Any ancient settlement took place due to three principal reasons, which
to a large extent remain unchanged to the present day.

1. Fertile arable land in close proximity to a water body.

2. The intersection of land and/or water trade routes.
3. An area of strategic military importance.

The Brahmins were a very powerful class in Vedic society, as was the church in medieval
Europe. Perhaps this is why all of the Vastushastra has an intensely religious overtone.
Vastushastra is a detailed science that deals with the evolution of the human as an integral
module within the cosmos, who is emotionally and physically one with his natural habitat.
Vastushastra in this day and age should be looked upon as a shortcut for the user of a built
form to have health, wealth, fame, glory, stability, but as a tool to build a sustainable
environment that is closer to nature, where he can repair the ills of his existence from the
roots, himself.

Conclusion
The debate rages on about the merits and relevance of this science in contemporary
architectural design. Outright conclusions are practically impossible to draw, but a few points
need to be kept in mind while applying Vastushastra or buying a property that is
“Vastu-Compliant.”
1. The contemporary architecture uses materials and techniques very different from those
used a few millennia ago.
2. Our social fabric has changed.
3. We tend to look for our roots to assert our cultural identity without really knowing how.
4. Vastushastra is a science based on logical deduction and reasoning as much as Nuclear
Physics.

But the interpretations of this science are many, and the propounding gurus of Vastushastra
interpret it according to the laws of supply and demand. There are only a very few truly
knowledgeable consultants who are actually able to suggest holistic design solutions
according to Vastushastra. For example, changing the position of a column in a multistoried
commercial building is not the same as repositioning a stone column in a but to improve the
cross ventilation.

Final Words
This article does not encapsulate Vastushastra. Nor is it a Vastushastra ready reckoner. It
has merely attempted to put this oft-misunderstood concept in the right perspective. After
reading it one should be able to try and self-evaluate the inherent beauty of the perhaps
most artistic and subtle of all building sciences. Also, Vastushastra is an important part of
Indian architecture.