As for my first blog, I thought I will share my findings on Vastu.
In the present day scenario, all of us would like to have a house which
is most energy efficient. Considering today’s power cost and environmental
awareness among all of us, it certainly makes more sense.
The natural energies that are to be taken into account are: Solar
energy (for light and heat), wind energy and gravity.
Sun is vital for us on EARTH. It not only helps plants to produce food
for all of us, it can also be used as an eco-friendly energy source for our
daily needs. These days, it is very uncommon to find a house without a solar
water heater. And, as technology advances, there will be many more ways by
which we can utilise sun’s energy.
So, wondering why I am talking about SUN in a title under Vastu.. Read
on....
We all know that days and nights are caused due to the Earth’s rotation
on its axis. Before we proceed, we need to understand, how seasons are caused
as well. There are 2 aspects:
- Earth’s revolution around the SUN.
- Earth’s axis tilt of 23.40.
The above 2 contribute equally for the seasons to be caused on Earth.
For a better understanding, please refer to the figure below (courtesy
Wikipedia).
Now, this is the view, from high above. Let us make it more relevant to
lesser mortals like ourselves. As is evident, the two hemispheres on Earth have diagonally opposite
seasons, due to the amount of sun light that falls on that hemisphere.
Let
us see the movement of sun relative to a point anywhere in the
Northern Hemisphere. Even though, the sunrises in East and sets in West
every
day, it is not exactly true. To understand this, a concept followed in
the
Hindu calendar is very useful. In the Hindu calendar, a year is divided
into 2
halves with six months each. One half is called Uttarayan and the other
Dakshinayan. In the six months of Uttarayan (mid-january to mid-july),
the sun
travels in the North direction viz., the sunrise point shifts from
south-east
to north-east. And, yes you are right, in the six months of Dakshinayan
(mid-july to mid-january), the sun travels in the south direction viz.,
the sunrise point shifts from north-east back to south-east. On the days
of Equinoxes, 21st March & 23rd
September, the Sunrise will be exactly in East and the Sunset will be exactly in
West. Let me put it in a diagram. Another point to note here is the angle of
the Line of Sunrise will depend on the latitude on the Northern Hemisphere. The
closer to the North Pole, the steeper the angle. In other words, the difference between the
longest day (June 21st) and shortest day (December 21st)
will be more as we move towards the North Pole and least at the Equator.
Sun Rising in the Northern Hemisphere
|
Now, in the month of December, this is winter in Northern Hemisphere,
you want to stay in that part of house which is the warmest. (Unless of course,
you are ok for a big electricity bill for air-conditioning). Post afternoon,
the sunlight will directly fall only on the South and West walls. In the
evening, when you want to retire to bed, you would certainly like to rest in
the warmest place, which is evidently the south-west corner. You can refer the
figure below for illustration.
Sun Setting in the Northern Hemisphere
|
The best location for the window of the Master Bedroom is on the South
side wall. By keeping the window here, we can ensure that we get direct
sunlight into the room only in the Winter months. If it is located on the West
wall, the harsh sunlight during the evening will come into the room even during
Summer, thus making the room very hot.
It is common sense, that wherever, the Master of the house stays,
he/she would like to keep their valuables there. The nearer it is, the safer it
is. And how better to name this place than to name it after KUBERA (the Hindu
god of Wealth). Hence, the south-west corner of the house is called KUBERA
MOOLA.
Since we have fixed the Master Bedroom for the house, next we will see
which is the best place for kitchen. We should consider the following:
- It is a place where food items are stored, hence it could attract insects.
- It should be warm and ample light should be there in the mornings.
Considering the above, the best place is the south-east corner. The sunrises in the east and also during
winter mornings, the sunlight falls on the south and east walls of the house.
The insects which might be hiding will also come out due to the warmth of the
early morning sun and can be chased away.
Hence, the south-east corner of the house where the fire god is invoked
for cooking, is called the AGNI MOOLA.
Since we have the Kitchen in the south-east corner, the best place to
have the bathroom and toilets are the diagonally opposite place in the
north-west corner. This corner is called the VAYU MOOLA. In days, when we did
not have room freshners, the cooking aroma will be filled in the house and will
ensure that the odour from the toilet does not fill the house.
The north-east is called the ISHANYA MOOLA. Ideally, this place should
be left empty. There is a reason for this. Since the south-west is the place
where you have all the valuables, the entrance of the house, should be as far
away as possible, so it should be in the north-east corner. And usually it is
also recommended that this corner should be 1 or 2 feet below the house level.
That is because, if there is a day, when there is unusually large amount of
rain, which might lead to floods, if the north-east corner of the house gets
flooded with water, the master of the house can take all the valuables from the
KUBERA MOOLA and abandon the house, before it is too late.
So the final plan should like this:
The above is true for any place in the Northern Hemisphere.
Extrapolating the above logic, for Southern Hemisphere the moolas will
be as under:
- KUBERA MOOLA: North-West
- AGNI MOOLA: North-East
- VAYU MOOLA: South-West
- ISHANYA MOOLA: South-East
Have you tried to read the word VASTU in reverse order... it becomes U
T S A V...
Live in a house built as per VASTU and let everyday become an UTSAV!!
Kannan
kanasu137@gmail.com
