Vasthu Sasthram
'Faith is a continuation of reason'. The famous anecdote holds good when it comes to traditional practices and beliefs. And Kerala, the land of Gods, has seen such practices passed on from one generation to another.
Vasthu Sasthra, the ancient science of architecture and buildings, is about making a congenial setting or a place to live and work in a most scientific way taking advantage of the benefits bestowed by nature, its elements and energy fields for enhanced wealth, health, prosperity and happiness. Vasthu Sasthra is 75 percent practical and only the rest is theory. Astrology is the other way round.
Vasthu Sasthra has been there right from early days of mankind. Also, it has been proved that the science had acceptance during the Indus Valley civilisation. Jainism and Buddhism too had embraced the science.
Vasthu is absolutely a science and there are certain principles based on reason. For example consider this. A plot of land when encircled by a wall becomes 'Vaastu Mandala' just like a magnet when cut into small pieces having the same properties of the original one.
The Earth has a magnetic field and the sun provides all the energy. So Vasthu in simple terms is the adjustments made in the structure of a building by which the positive energy from these sources can be derived the most.
Like human beings, houses too have five stages of life -- Childhood, Adolescence, Youth, Old age and Death, each extending for a period of 12 years. In the childhood stage (up to 12 years), the inhabitants have nothing to worry but if a building is not in accordance to the basic Vasthu principles, then it may adversely affect those who live in it in the second stage.
The 'Vasthu', which means dwelling, also speaks on locations of plants and trees in the house premises. "The sun rays till after-noon are considered a source of positive energy. So short, flowering plants can be planted in the eastern side while tall trees like coconut and arekas can be in the west (to filter the sunrays in the late afternoon)."
Similarly there are specific places for everything in a house. "Wealth (in any form) should be stored in the South-west (Kannimoola) direction with the almarah facing to the north. Bed room should also be in this direction and head should be facing south."
People tend to perceive Vasthu proponents with an eye of suspicion."It is true that the science has been misinterpreted and misused by a whole lot of so-called Vastu scholars. They are those who have not studied Vashtu Sashtra in depth. Such people tend to make a mountain out of a molehill, thus questioning the integrity of true Vasthu scholars. It is not a superstition. Vastu Shastra is 75 percent practical and only the rest is theory.
Earlier, people settled for small houses, with the basic infrastructure. Now, we have extremely rich people who spend on mansions and end up with little peace of mind." Such extravagant buildings tend to have many rooms/ spaces which are never used. It is an accepted fact that unused rooms/ spaces always produce negative energy. This naturally rubs off on the inhabitants and so they end up an unhappy lot. Naturally, they turn to astrologers or Vastu scholars or anybody who can bring them relief. Vasthu Sasthra pre-scribes desirable characteristics for sites and buildings based on flow of energy and many rules are attributed to cosmobogical considerations, ie the earth's and the sun's energy.
To list some 'Don'ts', kitchen should not be in the south-west corner (Kannimoola) and below the floor level. That may be harmful to the lady of the house". Similarly if we do cone-cutting in the north-east direction (Easanu-cone) then it may bring miseries to the head of the family as "the head of 'Vashtu Devan lies in this direction.
