What’s the Vastu Purusha Mandala
In this post, I am going to explain a key piece of Vastu Shastra: the Vastu Purusha Mandala. What is it and what is it for?
The Vastu Purusha Mandala is a design scheme that defines several parameters to take into account when analyzing or designing a house, building, or property.
It’s a diagram that’s used as a kind of template that serves to define in the building where the basic elements are located (Pancha Boothas), how it should be oriented, the geobiological layout, proportion, energy of the place, etc.
And based on all these parameters that I’ve just mentioned, we know what’s the best distribution for our house. In Vastu Shastra, the design doesn’t give priority to the functional, aesthetic, or materialistic part as it’s usually done in the West.
In Vastu, more importance is given to the following set of parameters: geobiology, orientation with the cardinal points, elements, proportion, materials … etc. When they’re well combined, they benefit the correct flow of energy (prana) through our home. It’s not about manipulating the energy of the environment in our favor but aligning with it, in harmony with nature. And all those factors are reflected in the Vastu Purusha Mandala.
The structure of Vastu Purusha Mandala
Its standard representation is square and is generally subdivided with a 3×3 grid and successively into a 9×9 grid. This grid is the most used for homes, but there are many more that are used depending on the building or the characteristics of the place (terrain, climate, etc.)
Here I must clarify that it should not be applied in a literal sense. I remember that when I took my first Vastu course, a colleague who was also an architect and I, wondered to ourselves: do we have to design from now onwards all houses squares following that?
Well, not exactly.
I repeat, the Vastu Purusha Mandala is an outline, a guide. Once you know its secrets and you have deepened the knowledge behind this diagram, its application becomes simpler. And it can be used to analyze houses or apartments already built or to design them from the beginning.
There are so many components or layers behind it. I could not explain them all in one single post but I’ll keep telling you about them!
Stay tuned because in the next posts you will discover where the five elements of the Vastu are in your home using the Vastu Purusha Mandala. And you will know the best orientations for each of the rooms!
Big hugs,
Julia
* Images: Dalalba