[Newpunter]

I couldn't find any thread on this topic, so I am starting a new one. Mods, please feel free to merge this with any existing thread on the topic.

This has happened to me recently. We were on the lookout for a budget house in Bangalore. I knew that it was difficult to find a decent house in Bangalore for the budget that we were looking at. So we started looking at places that are a little out of town. Finally, we found one that was like a dream house for me. The location was perfect and the house was too good and I am pretty sure that I would never again find something that good for that good price.

So, we had decided that we would buy this house. I had already started planning for what I would do when we move in ( this was a ready to move in flat ). We got the plan from the builder and then my wife wanted to check it for "Vasthu" compliance.

My friend, who is very superstitious, showed the plan to her father and asked him to check it. The result came back and it was not good news. According to the Vasthu "experts", this house had bad Vasthu. The kitchen was in the wrong direction and the entrance was a little more towards the south than necessary. The bedroom was also a problem, but since there were 2 more bedrooms, this wasn't a big issue.

My friend told my wife that if the kitchen was in the location it was at present, there would be health problems and there was a risk of theft. Also according to the Vasthu experts, the location of the bedroom would lead to no children . Due to all this, my wife has put her foot down and doesn't want us to buy that flat.

I'm a completely rational guy and don't believe in all these so called "vasthu science". Further, I know that I would never again be able to afford such a good house in my life. I find it extremely silly and stupid that we are letting go of such a perfect house based on superstitions.

I wonder how the location of a kitchen can impact my health or make the house vulnerable to theft. The really frustrating thing is that everyone around me in my family believes in this stuff.

I would like to know the opinion of my fellow BHPians on this. What would you do if you were in my position. Do you believe in Vasthu and if yes, please give reasons/ experiences.

[Abhay]

I don't want to make fun of stuff which might be close to somebody's heart but in this case I suggest you put your foot down and buy the damn thing.

It's your money and your life and you are the one who should be deciding what to do with it and how to do it. Not some so called 'expert'.
Try to convince your wife about this and to assuage her fears about locations of kitchens/bedrooms.

[Newpunter]

Originally Posted by Abhay

It's your money and your life and you are the one who should be deciding what to do with it and how to do it. Not some so called 'expert'.
Try to convince your wife about this and to assuage her fears about locations of kitchens/bedrooms.

The sad thing is that if I had my wife's support, I wouldn't have cared what everyone else in the world thought, but my wife is scared. Especially since she lost a close relative a few years back and some people put it into her mind that it was due to bad vasthu in their house, much like those astrologers who claim to have predicted some event after that event happens .

[deky]

Vasthu as practiced in its original form 100's of years back must have had some truth in it. So the so called "science " can not be discarded of so easily.

IMO in those olden days when they were not so technically advanced to have A/C's, geysers, tube lights, fans etc etc, they had to rely on the buildings/ temples structure to utilise the most of the natural environment. Hence the vasthu science must have originated.

But now Vasthu has become more of a mean to scare people than to help them out, which IMO is not the right way to interpret it.

I shall not mock those who believe in Vastu, nor I myself will follow it to change the lay out of my house to make it Vasthu compliant.

regards

[mayankjha1806]

Well, my advise would be to take all these with a pinch of salt. Vastu has been found true in certain cases but it is not a hard bound truth all the time. Our current house's kitchen is in the wrong place and it would mean that this would lead to health problems. Nothing has happened in the last 4 years, and i have a fair bit of confidence that nothing will.

Given a choice (and convenience) i would follow the vastu recommendations but its not a gospel truth. If the recommendations cause more inconvenience i would stop following. So we follow the direction we should sleep, the bedroom position etc etc as its not a problem to sleep slightly differently or maybe sleep in a different bedroom.

[Frankazoid!!!]

I think Vastu is a game afforded only by the rich. For the common man like you and me, in today's realty market i would say if u like it and it's in your budget then just go ahead and by it and Vastu be damned.

P.S. I don't believe in Vastu, but i do believe in keeping the wife happy! Because that can 'impact your health'. Now that, most people will agree, is exact science.

[Newpunter]

Originally Posted by deky

Vasthu as practiced in its original form 100's of years back must have had some truth in it. So the so called "science " can not be discarded of so easily.

IMO in those olden days when they were not so technically advanced to have A/C's, geysers, tube lights, fans etc etc, they had to rely on the buildings/ temples structure to utilise the most of the natural environment. Hence the vasthu science must have originated.

Thanks. I think your theory makes perfect sense. Vasthu was most probably invented to make the best use of the natural environment. However, over the years, a lot of superstition has crept into it and now the modern vasthu has become nothing but another way to make money.

[blackasta]

Newpunter - the problem with buying the said apartment which has so called 'bad vasthu', is that in the event anything happens (and as life is not event free something or the other is bound to happen), the vasthu experts will take a 'I told you so' stance. Both you and your wife shall be equally troubled by that. If you can ignore that and have a strong rational mind - buy the house.
If you want to avoid trouble - I suggest you look for another apartment, and buy it without consulting the 'vasthu experts'.

[deetjohn]

I believe real Vastu is real science and has logical reasoning.

Let me give an example. IIRC, according to Vastu, a kitchen should be facing east. Back in the days without electricity, a kitchen on the Eastern side made a lot of sense. The rising sun used to provide ample light when people cook during the early morning hours. So, it made a lot of sense to have a kitchen facing east.

Likewise, each and every thing in Vastu has a logical reasoning. And some of them would have lost the relevance due to advancements in technology. Only an expert will know most/ some of it and can implement the things that make sense now for a person or a house.

But these days, getting a 'real expert' is very difficult, if not impossible. A lot of people try to make money out of Vastu by scaring others without understanding the science or logic behind it. So, if you can find a real expert, I would say go for it else, don't bother too much.

[wanderlust]

Vastu is a forgotten science. The pandits these days use it to scare people into parting with their money.

Ideally, Vastu would take care of provision for adequate ventilation, check the brightness of sunlight and heat during the morning, afternoon and evening hours, check the direction in which you sleep, the direction of flow of water, some things that cause imbalance in the magnetic field around. But these days, with electromagnetic radiation everywhere, it is difficult to follow the science to the T, instead, just check for adequate ventilation and light in the rooms. The rest can be ignored.

[r_devakumar]

It is one of the most abused terms by many builders these days. You don't need something called Vastu to define what is needed for a house and in what way. How a house to be build entirely depends on the place it is, and the sourroundings. A vastu can't define it.

For example, kitchen to be in east is a basic common sense as it will be good to have a brighter room in the morning for cooking (as someone mentioned in another thread, in earlier days when we don't have electricity, it was a the only option to get light in early). However, if you see the houses and apartments in the city today, there is hardly a feet of space between the walls of two houses, in such situation, if there is a blocking structure in the east, it will be idiotic to follow vastu here.

Depends on the place and climate, one should look for the design. When i was searching for house in chennai, i was looking for the below (apartment):

1. Should not be top floor (Chennai Heat)
2. Less of 'open wall' in North and West (to avoid direct sunlight heating in the summer as Sun is towards north during summer)
3. More of opening towards East and South
4. Bedroom in the south east corner (no wall heat during summer, warmer winter as sun will be in the south side)
5. Option for cross ventilation. It is difficult to get, but if you get one where there is an option to air inflow from East, South East and South (with adequate open space in these sides), you will get a very good air flow inside house. In Chennai, air flow is mostly in this direction and during summer, the air speed goes upto 25 kmph. During rainy season, the air flow is mostly from south west.

For Bangalore, according to the climate condition, it could be totally different.

However, if you have an option for building a house in a good open area, without tall structure around, you will be able to apply 'Vastu' and achieve most of the benefits. But in today's condition, it is just a joke.

[condor]

@Newpunter, you are going to get answers in both ways - yes & no. And a balanced view like from @DeetJohn & @Wanderlust. About Vastu itself, my answer would be in line with the above two posts. We ourselves have not studied these topics, so we are not in a position to rubbish it outright. If these ideas have sustained so long, then there was something in it for it have been accepted for centuries.

But, you cannot go just anyone who calls himself a Vastu expert and follow what he says. There's just too many people out there who are seeing a money earning opportunity. And these are the people who will raise a din & try to attract more 'customers'. If there is a real practicioner somewhere, and you find him, you can discuss with him.

You could say that Vastu was applicable then, but is BS now. But the same should apply to other age-old practices like - crop rotation. Why is it that you would accept crop rotation as a scientific thing, but rubbish other subjects that have been in practice from centuries ? Go to an old farmer, and he knows that he must rotate his crops & why, & how. It was not mordern science that told him about it.

The above points were more from reasoning. Coming to your situation:

1. Even if you were to follow Vastu, then you will not find an apt that is 100% compliant. You will have to make do with the best you can.

2. If you dont, then you have to do something towards an amicable agreement about the flat you want to buy. It will be your wife, you & your family who will live there. And which ever flat you chose & buy, you will need to ensure that you are both happy with it - or atleast you both have no clashing 'against' points about it.

[msdivy]

Back in the days without electricity, a kitchen on the Eastern side made a lot of sense.

For the sake of argument, given that we have electricity, does it still make sense?
*I believe, kitchen on the eastern side means, kitchen has a window, which opens to east.

Note: From my limited vastu gyan, recommended location for kitchen is south-east (agni source) or north-west (vayu source). North-east (even though a window can open to east) is a strict no-no.

I have chosen option 2 in this poll. If vastu is indeed useful, it has to
1) Convince the basis of all its recommendations
2) Those recommendations must be relevant today.

Till, then its just a tool for peace of mind, that you have done it right.

[Gansan]

Buy the house. Allay your wife's apprehensions by consulting a Chinese Vaastu (Fengshui) practitioner and carrying out the "parihar" he suggests. The remedial measures in this branch are usually very harmless ones such as placing a fish tank here, a mirror there etc. Thus make it a win-win for both yourself and your wife.

If you are interested, PM me and I will give you the number of a practitioner at B'lore (my wife's uncle actually!).

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by wanderlust

Vastu is a forgotten science. The pandits these days use it to scare people into parting with their money.

Ideally, Vastu would take care of provision for adequate ventilation, check the brightness of sunlight and heat during the morning, afternoon and evening hours, check the direction in which you sleep, the direction of flow of water, some things that cause imbalance in the magnetic field around. But these days, with electromagnetic radiation everywhere, it is difficult to follow the science to the T, instead, just check for adequate ventilation and light in the rooms. The rest can be ignored.

As written above.
Vastu may be a BS being propagate right now - but it can have scientific basis on some aspects.

I don't know about Vastu specifications a least bit - but by my own experience:
a) if you wake up because of the morning sun / light of the morning sun - your waking up is more natural and gradual than jarring jolt by alarm clock. Makes the day.
b) you need to have cross ventilation in your house - cause by position of windows and doors, and wind patterns.
c) lighting - nothing can replace the natural sunlight for illumination. (Highest depression and suicide rates are in places where the ppl don't get to enjoy the full blast sunlight)
etc.

The point is this:
There should be a logical and rational reason given behind all the vastu points, and it should be explained by the Vastu practitioner, otherwise its all BS.

Newpunter.
Its your stance and your call.
Remember that most of these abstract practices - astrology, vaastu, palmistry etc belong to self fulfilling prophecies.

If you have strength in your will, ignore these.
If you don't - then don't ignore, otherwise you will blame yourself for any small misdeed arising (even though it may be totally dis-connected).


Do I believe in "Vaastu"?
NO!