Dimensional System

Ancient Indian civilization evolved and practiced a sophisticated octal system of measurement which was employed in architecture, carpentry and other crafts like jewelry design.

The units of measurement belonged to two classes – based on the size of grains for smaller measures, and based on the size of different parts of the human body for medium and large measures.

The smallest dimension was the tila, the length of a tila / sesame seed, which is about 0.47 mm. This is the thickness of a fine line of chisel on wood.

Subsequent measures were arrived at using the octal system (multiplications of 8) leading up to the yava – the length of a standard grain which is about 3.75 mm. The yava was also considered an essential grain for religious rituals, and was grown all over India, thus standardizing the measurement system. The second level in the system of measurement involved the use of the human body profile. The ancient texts mention that a person’s height is equal to his horizontal span (with arms outstretched), thus enclosing the human body in a perfect square.

The length (of height = span) is called vyama, which in its octal divisions gives the pada, or foot-length (1/8 of vyama) and the angula, or the central phalanx of the middle finger (1/8 of pada). The grain unit was linked to the human unit by 8 yava = 1 angula.

Attributes of Forms

The plan shape defined by a bounding perimeter is designated as the mandala. The search for perfect form common to design philosophies across civilizations, led the ancient Indians to many shapes of mandala, including the circle, regular polygon and combinations of regular shapes.

The primary shape of a Vaastu mandala is the circle. This compares with the celestial bodies of the sun and moon, and was considered a perfect shape. Fascinations with the circle also led to detailed calculation of the ratio of perimeter to diameter, or pi.

Two other sacred mandalas were the square and the octagon – the former could be oriented along the four cardinal directions, while the octagon could have its eight faces aligned along the eight directions (four cardinal and four diagonal). These 8 orientations are crucial in Vaastu Shastra.

While higher derivatives of the polygon up to 32 sides have also been documented, the three basic shapes of the square, octagon and circle were attributed high divinity since they represented the trinity of Hindu religion of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

For most secular buildings, the common shape is the rectangle, where three basic proportions of width to length are 1:2, 2:3, and 3:5, Another desirable proportion is 1:3, which satisfies the width, length and perimeter ratio of 1:3:8, which in Vaastu units translates to pada: hasta: vyama.

Orientation of Vaastu

A unique and crucial feature in Vaastu Shastra is the relationship between the dimension of the building and its orientation with respect to the centre of the plot.

This relationship is denoted by the yoni, Which is computed by multiplying the prime dimension of a building, expressed in Vaastu units, by the fraction 3/8, and recording the remainder.

While the text vary on what the prime dimension should be (width, height, area), traditionally, the widespread practice was to adopt the perimeter.

Thus, if the remainder is 1, it corresponds to the East yoni. Similarly, yoni number of 2 to 8 correspond to the other seven directions (clock-wise from East).

A yoni remainder of 9 will, of course, correspond back to 1 (East), and so on, which yields an Archimedian spi­ral with 8 radial vectors along the cardinal and diagonal directions.

This relationship between the perimeter and the orientation of the building is very important. If your building is being planned in a specific location of a plot, you must compute its perimeter to suit the orientation of that position.

Conversely, if your building plan restricts you to a specific perimeter, you must choose its location so that its orientation matches the yoni number.

Position of Building

The texts prescribe that the perimeter measurement satisfy the orientation according to the yoni for all structures including components – buildings, platforms, stairs and even doors and windows.

While it is mentioned that the inside perimeter be taken for some and the outside for others, this becomes too tedious. Hence, the centre-line dimension of a structure – columns, beams or walls – can be taken for computing the desired perimeter according to its yoni orientation.

Vaastu Shastra mentioned eight possible positions of the building with respect to the centre of the plot, but even here, it is the four cardinal directions and their respective yoni perimeters which are preferred.

The centre of the (square or rectangle) plot is called the brahmanabhi. The centre of the building located within this plot is called the grihanabhi, whose position with respect to the brahmanabhi is determined by its perimeter dimension.

The grihanabhi is shifted slightly away from the cardinal directions so that its grid lines do not overlap with the grid lines of the plot.

The thumb rule for choosing the location for the grihanabhi (centre of building) is that it should face both the brahmanabhi (centre of plot) and the approach road.

The Marma Concept

A building plot or mandala, when built upon and enclosed, reverberates with dynamic energy.

The enclosed space throbs like a living entity, and contains crucial nodes called the marma points, which are identified by dividing the plot area into a grid.

This grid, usually a nine-by-nine one (it can also be 7 by 7 or 8 by 8 or any higher number) generates the marma points at the intersection of three diagonal lines connecting the four corners of the grid.

The significance of the marma lies in the fact that they are considered as sensitive nodes which must not be interrupted by any construction – i.e. no walls or pillars should be built on them.

Our research on the purpose of the marmas has shown that when drawn on the six sides of a cube (a building), create a perfect energy pyramid at the centre of the building.

Which is perhaps why Vaastu design demands the central courtyard, or the energy pyramid, be left open.

The marma refer to select parts of the human body, and construction on any of these points adversely affects that part or organ of the body.

1 Head 2 Sex 3 Navel 4 knee 5 knee 6 Thigh 7 Heart 8 Shoulder 9 Shoulder

Function & Orientation

As seen in the chapter “Position of Buildings”, Vaastu Shastra accommodates positions in several orientations with respect to the centre of the plot. Any notion that a house must be located in the South-West of the plot and face North or encounter calamities is absurd and untrue.

According to the texts, the various zone in a grid are occupied by different Gods and elements. For instance, the South-East is ruled by Fire, which is why it is the recommended place for the kitchen.

In the North, resides Kuber, the God of wealth, which is why it is recommended that offices locate their accounts department or cashier or cash in this region.

As we will see in the next chapter on “Vaastu & Architecture”, our research has revealed several practical ways in which to harmonise a building, even when many orientations and dimensions are not according to the recommendations.