Originating in ancient India, Vastu Shastra (, – literally "science of architecture") is a traditional Hindu (Sanātana) system of architectureBettina Baumer (2019), Form, Space and Consciousness – Architectural principles in the Vastushastras, in Eloquent Spaces: Meaning and Community in Early Indian Architecture, S. Kaul (Editor), Routledge, Chapter 2, based on ancient texts that describe principles of design, layout, measurements, ground preparation, space arrangement, and spatial geometry. The designs aim to integrate architecture with nature, the relative functions of various parts of the structure, and ancient beliefs utilising geometric patterns (yantra), symmetry, and directional alignments. Vastu Shastra follows a design approach that is more inclined towards aligning spaces with natural forces like sunlight, wind, geomagnetic field and gravity. The architecture design system fosters harmony amongst individuals and their surroundings.
Vastu Shastra are the textual part of Vastu Vidya – the broader knowledge about architecture and design theories from ancient India. Vastu Vidya is a collection of ideas and concepts, with or without the support of layout diagrams, that are not rigid. Rather, these ideas and concepts are models for the organisation of space and form within a building or collection of buildings, based on their functions in relation to each other, their usage and the overall fabric of the Vastu. Ancient Vastu Shastra principles include those for the design of Mandir (Hindu temples)George Michell (1988), The Hindu Temple: An Introduction to Its Meaning and Forms, University of Chicago Press, , pp. 21–22 and the principles for the design and layout of houses, towns, cities, gardens, roads, water works, shops, and other public areas.GD Vasudev (2001), Vastu, Motilal Banarsidas, , pp. 74–92Sherri Silverman (2007), Vastu: Transcendental Home Design in Harmony with Nature, Gibbs Smith, Utah, The Pandit or Architects of Vastu Shastra are Sthapati, Sūtragrāhin(Sutradhar), Vardhaki, and Takṣhaka.
Terminology The Sanskrit word vāstu means a dwelling or house with a corresponding plot of land. The vrddhi, vāstu, takes the meaning of "the site or foundation of a house, site, ground, building or dwelling-place, habitation, homestead, house". The underlying root is vas "to dwell, live, stay, reside".Monier-Williams (1899). The term shastra may loosely be translated as "doctrine, teaching".
Vāstu-Śastras (literally, science of dwelling) are ancient Sanskrit manuals of architecture. These contain Vastu-Vidya (literally, knowledge of dwelling).BB Dutt (1925), , ; See critical review by LD Barnett, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol 4, Issue 2, June 1926, pp 391
History
Vastu, crafts and architecture are traditionally attributed to the divine Vishwakarma in the Hindu (Sanātana) pantheon. Theories tracing links of the principles of composition in Vastu Shastra and the Indus Valley civilization have been made, but scholar Kapila Vatsyayan considers this speculation since the Indus Valley script remains undeciphered. According to Chakrabarti, Vastu Vidya is as old as the Vedic period and linked to the ritual architecture. According to Michael W. Meister, the Atharvaveda contains verses with mystic cosmogony which provide a paradigm for cosmic planning, but they did not represent architecture nor a developed practice. The Arthashastra dated to 2nd century BCE and 3rd century CE, dedicates chapters to domestic architecture, forts and town planning. Arthashastra by Kautilya, translated by R. Shamasastry Book II – "The Duties of Government Superintendents" pp. 51–185 and Book III – "Concerning Law" pp. 187–252.
Vastu sastras are stated by some to have roots in pre-1st-century CE literature, but these views suffer from being a matter of interpretation. For example, the mathematical rules and steps for constructing Vedic yajna square for the sacrificial fire are in the Sulba-sutras dated to 4th-century BCE. However, these are ritual artifacts and they are not buildings or temples or broader objects of a lasting architecture. Varahamihira's Brihat Samhita dated to about the sixth century CE is among the earliest known Indian texts with dedicated chapters with principles of architecture. For example, Chapter 53 of the Brihat Samhita is titled "On architecture", and there and elsewhere it discusses elements of vastu sastra such as "planning cities and buildings" and "house structures, orientation, storeys, building balconies" along with other topics. According to Michael Meister, a scholar of Indian architecture, we must acknowledge that Varahamihira does mention his own sources on vastu as older texts and sages. However, these may be mythology and reflect the Indian tradition to credit mythical sages and deities.
Description
There exist many Vāstu-Śastras on the art of building houses, temples, towns and cities.Stella Kramrisch (1976), The Hindu Temple Volume 1 & 2, Jack Hebner (2010), Architecture of the Vāstu Śastra – According to Sacred Science, in Science of the Sacred (Editor: David Osborn), , pp. 85–92; N Lahiri (1996), Archaeological landscapes and textual images: a study of the sacred geography of late medieval Ballabgarh, World Archaeology, 28(2), pp. 244–264 Among early known examples is the Arthashastra dated to 2nd century BCE and 3rd century CE, with chapters dedicated to domestic architecture, forts and town planning. Arthashastra by Kautilya, translated by R. Shamasastry Book II – "The Duties of Government Superintendents" pp. 51–185 and Book III - "Concerning Law" pp. 187–252. By 6th century AD, Sanskrit texts for constructing palatial temples were in circulation in India.Susan Lewandowski (1984), Buildings and Society: Essays on the Social Development of the Built Environment, edited by Anthony D. King, Routledge, , Chapter 4 Vāstu-Śastras include chapters on home construction, town planning, and how efficient villages, towns and kingdoms integrated temples, water bodies and gardens within them to achieve harmony with nature.GD Vasudev (2001), Vastu, Motilal Banarsidas, , pp 74–92 While it is unclear, states Barnett,LD Barnett, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol 4, Issue 2, June 1926, pp 391 as to whether these temple and town planning texts were theoretical studies and if or when they were properly implemented in practice, these texts suggest that town planning and Hindu temples were conceived as ideals of art and integral part of Hindu social and spiritual life.
Six of the most studied, complete and referred to Indian texts on Vastu Vidya that have survived into the modern age, states Tillotson, are – the Mayamata, the Manasara, the Samarangana Sutradhara, the Rajavallabha, the Vishvakarmaprakasha and the Aparajitaprccha. Numerous other important texts contain sections or chapters on aspects of architecture and design.
The Silpa Prakasa of Odisha, authored by Ramachandra Bhattaraka Kaulachara sometime in ninth or tenth century CE, is another Vāstu Śastra.Alice Boner and Sadāśiva Rath Śarmā (1966), , E.J. Brill (Netherlands) Silpa Prakasa describes the geometric principles in every aspect of the temple and symbolism such as 16 emotions of human beings carved as 16 types of female figures. These styles were perfected in Hindu temples prevalent in the eastern states of India. Other ancient texts found expand these architectural principles, suggesting that different parts of India developed, invented and added their own interpretations. For example, in Saurastra tradition of temple building found in western states of India, the feminine form, expressions and emotions are depicted in 32 types of Nataka-stri compared to 16 types described in Silpa Prakasa. Silpa Prakasa provides brief introduction to 12 types of Hindu temples. Other texts, such as Pancaratra Prasada Prasadhana compiled by Daniel SmithH. Daniel Smith (1963), Ed. Pāncarātra prasāda prasādhapam, A Pancaratra Text on Temple-Building, Syracuse: University of Rochester, and Silpa Ratnakara compiled by Narmada SankaraMahanti and Mahanty (1995 Reprint), Śilpa Ratnākara, Orissa Akademi, provide a more extensive list of Hindu temple types.
Sanskrit texts for temple construction discovered in Rajasthan, in northwestern region of India, include Sutradhara Mandana's Prasadamandana (literally, planning and building a temple) with chapters on town building.Amita Sinha (1998), "Design of Settlements in the Vaastu Shastras", Journal of Cultural Geography, 17(2), pp. 27–41, Manasara shilpa and Mayamata, texts of South Indian origin, estimated to be in circulation by 5th to 7th century AD, is a guidebook on South Indian Vastu design and construction.Tillotson, G. H. R. (1997). Svastika Mansion: A Silpa-Sastra in the 1930s. South Asian Studies, 13(1), pp 87–97 Isanasivagurudeva paddhati is another Sanskrit text from the 9th century describing the art of building in India in south and central India.Ganapati Sastri (1920), Īśānaśivagurudeva paddhati, Trivandrum Sanskrit Series, In north India, Brihat-samhita by Varāhamihira is the widely cited ancient Sanskrit text from 6th century describing the design and construction of Nagara style of Hindu temples.Heather Elgood (2000), Hinduism and the religious arts, , Bloomsbury Academic, pp 121–125H Kern (1865), The Brhat Sanhita of Varaha-mihara, The Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta
These Vāstu Śastras, often discuss and describe the principles of Hindu temple design, but do not limit themselves to the design of a Hindu temple.S Bafna, On the Idea of the Mandala as a Governing Device in Indian Architectural Tradition, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 59, No. 1 (Mar. 2000), pp. 26–49 They describe the temple as a holistic part of its community, and lay out various principles and a diversity of alternate designs for home, village and city layout along with the temple, gardens, water bodies and nature.Stella Kramrisch, The Hindu Temple, Vol 1, Motilal Banarsidass,
Mandala types and properties
The central area in all mandala is the Brahmasthana. Mandala "circle-circumference" or "completion", is a concentric diagram having spiritual and ritual significance in both Hinduism and Buddhism. The space occupied by it varies in different mandala – in Pitha (9) and Upapitha (25). It occupies one square module, in Mahaapitha (16), Ugrapitha (36) and Manduka (64), four square modules and in Sthandila (49) and Paramasaayika (81), nine square modules. The Pitha is an amplified Prithvimandala in which, according to some texts, the central space is occupied by earth. The Sthandila mandala is used in a concentric manner.
A site of any shape can be divided using the Pada Vinyasa. Sites are known by the number of squares. They range from 1x1 to 32x32 (1024) square sites. Examples of mandalas with the corresponding names of sites include: Sakala (1 square) corresponds to Eka-pada (single divided site) Pechaka (4 squares) corresponds to Dwi-pada (two divided site) Pitha (9 squares) corresponds to Tri-pada (three divided site) Mahaapitha (16 squares) corresponds to Chatush-pada (four divided site) Upapitha (25 squares) corresponds to Pancha-pada (five divided site) Ugrapitha (36 squares) corresponds to Shashtha-pada (six divided site) Sthandila (49 squares) corresponds to Sapta-pada (seven divided site) Manduka/ Chandita (64 square) corresponds to Ashta-pada (eight divided site) Paramasaayika (81 squares) corresponds to Nava-pada (nine divided site) Aasana (100 squares) corresponds to Dasa-pada (ten divided site) Bhadrmahasana (196 squares) corresponds to Chodah-pada (14 divided sites)
Modern adaptations and usage