Origin of Vastu

Origin of Vastu — The concept of consulting a Vastu expert, for creating peaceful settings at home and workplace, is quite popular today. However, unlike what most people tend to believe, this scientific study of directions, for architectural purposes, is not new. In fact, it has its origin in the Sthapatya Veda, a part of the Atharva Veda, which dates back to thousand of years ago. The early principles of Vastu were framed on the basis of observation of the sunrays, at different times in the day. These observations were noted and important inferences drawn later on, on the basis of an in-depth screening.

Vastu study incorporates within itself the principles of sculptures, construction and architecture, as they have been described in the epics. One can find its mention in different epics, like Mataysya Purana, Skanda Purana, Agni Purana, Garuda Purana, and Vishnu Purana. From ancient literature, it is found that that the construction of various temples and architectures like temples and palaces was based on Vastu only. There are many ancient shastras, like Vishvakarma Prakash, Samraangan Sutradhar, Kashyap Shilpshastra, Vrihad Sanhita, and Praman Manjaree, which pass over the Vastu knowledge to the next generation.

References to Vastu Shastra can also be found in the Mahabharata. The epic tells that when kings were invited to the city of Indraprastha, for the Rajasuya Yagna of King Yuddhistira, a number of houses were built, all of which followed Vastu guidelines. These houses were free from obstructions and had big compounds with great walls. The symmetry of various elements required for the construction of the palace was also taken into consideration. Even the mayasabha of the Mahabharata was built according to the ancient principles of Vastu Shastra.

Vastu finds mention in Ramayana as well. The construction of the holy city of Ayodhya, where Lord Rama was born and ruled, shared a similarity with the plan written in the great architectural text Manasara. Even the Ramsetu of Ramayana was based on Vastu principles. Buddhist literature also makes numerous mentions of buildings based on Vastu. It is said that Lord Buddha used to deliver discourses on architecture and he was very much conscious of the construction of the buildings in order. There is a mention of various viharas, temples, houses, buildings in the various Buddhist texts, based on vastu.