Square (chaturasra)
GoodEvery direction gets its full share and the Brahmasthana sits at the true centre. It is the plot every text holds up as the ideal.
Vastu The eight directions and the centre with their lords, room by room placement with the reason for it and a practical remedy where a room cannot move, the plot shapes, and the Vastu Purusha mandala. Vastu is a tradition of proportion and light, not a guarantee.
Find the directions
Every direction on this page is taken from the centre of the house.
- Stand at the centre of the house, the Brahmasthana, with the phone held flat, away from the fridge, the steel bureau and the inverter; iron and magnets pull a compass off true.
- Note which way the main walls run. A house is rarely square to the compass: when the walls are within about 22° of north, the house is read as facing a cardinal direction; nearer 45°, it faces a corner (a vidisha house), and the corners then carry the most weight.
- Divide the house three by three. A room “in the north-east” is in the north-east ninth of the plan, whichever room that is.
- Without a compass: the sun rises due east only at the equinoxes, around 20 March (late Panguni) and 22 September (early Purattasi). In Margazhi it rises well to the south of east, and in Aani well to the north, by as much as 24° in Tamil Nadu.
The nine directions
The dikpala who guards each direction, its graha, its element, and what belongs there.
| Direction | Lord | Graha | Element | Belongs here | Keep away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Uttara வடக்கு | Kubera (and Soma) | Budhan | Water | Wealth, opportunity and the flow of money. Open, light and low: the hall, the study, the main door, underground water, mirrors. | A toilet, heavy walls or cupboards, the kitchen stove. |
| North-east Ishanya ஈசானம் (வடகிழக்கு) | Ishana (Shiva) | Guru | Water, the purest corner | The head of the Vastu Purusha: clarity, worship and health. The pooja room, the well or sump, open space, the lowest floor level. | A toilet, the kitchen, a staircase, the overhead tank, anything heavy. |
| East Purva கிழக்கு | Indra | Suriyan | Air and light | Health, good name and the morning sun. Windows, the main door, the hall, the study, the bath. | Tall trees, high walls or a staircase that shuts out the sunrise. |
| South-east Agneya அக்னி மூலை (தென்கிழக்கு) | Agni | Sukran | Fire | Fire, digestion and the money that moves through a home. The kitchen stove, the electrical meter and inverter. | Water (sump, well), the couple’s bedroom, the pooja. |
| South Dakshina தெற்கு | Yama | Sevvai | Fire and earth | Rest, strength and endurance. Bedrooms, the staircase, heavy furniture, thicker and higher walls. | Underground water, a door in the south-west half, a low open south. |
| South-west Nairutya நிருதி / கன்னி மூலை (தென்மேற்கு) | Nirriti (the Pitrs) | Rahu (with Ketu) | Earth | Stability: the head of the family and what the family keeps. The master bedroom, the bureau, the overhead tank; the highest and heaviest part of the house. | A door, a toilet, a septic tank, a pit, a cut corner. |
| West Paschima மேற்கு | Varuna | Sani | Water (Varuna) held by earth | Steadiness and the fruit of effort. Children’s rooms, the dining room, the overhead tank, the toilet. | A wide-open west with the east closed. |
| North-west Vayavya வாயு மூலை (வடமேற்கு) | Vayu | Chandran | Air | Movement: visitors, relationships, things that come and go. The guest room, the toilet, the septic tank, the grain store, the car. | The bureau and the head of the family’s bed for long. |
| Centre Brahmasthana பிரம்மஸ்தானம் (மையம்) | Brahma | — | Space (akasha) | The heart of the house, where the navel of the Vastu Purusha lies. Open and light: a courtyard, a hall, the thulasi madam of the old houses. | Pillars, beams, a toilet, a staircase, heavy furniture, a pit. |
The five elements are placed at the corners and the centre: water in the north-east, fire in the south-east, earth in the south-west, air in the north-west and space at the Brahmasthana. A side between two corners shares their natures, and each lord adds its own.
Room by room
Pick the direction each room is in, as your house stands today. Rooms you leave out are skipped; the checklist below updates as you go.
The checklist
Each room you placed, with the tradition’s verdict, its reason, and one practical step for a placement that cannot change.
Pick a direction for a room above, or press “Try an example house”, and the checklist appears here.
Plot and house shape
The shape of the plot and of the house on it, north at the top of each drawing.
Rectangle, up to twice as long as wide
GoodA rectangle whose length is no more than twice its width is as good as a square. The longer side may run east–west or north–south.
Long and narrow (beyond 1 : 2)
AcceptableBeyond twice as long as it is wide, the centre drifts away from the house and one direction is starved of its share.
What to do: Build the house as a square or 1 : 2 block within the plot and leave the extra length as open garden, more of it on the north or east.
Gomukhi: narrow at the road, wide behind
GoodThe cow-faced plot, narrow at the front and wider at the back, is the one welcomed for a home: gentle, and holding what comes in.
Simhamukhi: wide at the road, narrow behind
AcceptableThe lion-faced plot, wide at the front and narrow behind, is favoured for a shop or a business and not for a home.
What to do: For a home, fence or plant the front so that the built house stands as a rectangle.
Extended toward the north-east
GoodThe one extension every text welcomes: the north-east grows, and with it the light and the family’s fortunes.
North-east corner cut
AvoidA missing north-east corner is the gravest defect of a plot: the head of the Vastu Purusha is cut away. It is read as affecting health, the eldest son and the family’s fortunes.
What to do: Square the plot again with the compound wall or a fence line, keep that corner of the garden open, low, clean and lit, and never build the house into the cut.
South-west corner cut
AvoidThe south-west should be a true right angle, closed and heavy; a cut there is read as instability for the head of the family.
What to do: Complete the corner with a wall and put weight there: a room, a raised platform or heavy trees.
South-east corner cut
AcceptableA cut in the south-east shrinks Agni’s corner; most texts tolerate it if the kitchen still sits in the south-east of the house.
What to do: Keep the kitchen in the south-east of the house itself.
North-west corner cut
AcceptableA cut in the north-west shrinks Vayu’s corner; it is tolerated if the house itself is square.
What to do: Keep the built house square; a small fence can complete the corner.
Extended toward the south-west
AvoidThe south-west should never grow beyond the rest: an extension here is read as instability, debt and trouble to the head of the family.
What to do: Fence the extension off as a separate part, or fill it with trees and keep it higher than the rest; do not build a room into it.
Extended toward the south-east
AvoidAn extended south-east magnifies Agni: quarrels, fire and money spent faster than it comes.
What to do: Separate the extension with a fence or a hedge so the main plot is square.
Extended toward the north-west
AcceptableAn extension on the north side toward the north-west is tolerated; one on the west side is read as restlessness and disputes.
What to do: Separate it with a low hedge if it juts out on the west side.
Triangular, round or many-sided
AvoidAn irregular plot has no true corners and no clear centre, so the directions cannot each have their share.
What to do: Build a square or rectangular house within it and fence off the leftover pieces as garden.
High in the south-west, low in the north-east
GoodRain should run toward the north-east and leave the plot there; the south and west are kept higher, as the heavy side.
High in the north-east, low in the south-west
AvoidWater gathering in the south-west, and a north-east higher than the rest, reverse the whole order of the plot.
What to do: Raise the south and west with earth fill or a raised platform, and let the drains leave from the north-east.
A street running straight at the plot (veedhi soolai)
AcceptableA street that runs straight into the plot is called veedhi soolai. Meeting the north or east side toward the north-east, as drawn, it is welcomed; meeting the south-west half it is the one to avoid.
What to do: Where it meets the south-west half: a solid compound wall, a tall hedge, or a Vinayagar at the gate facing the street.
The Vastu Purusha mandala
The 81 padas and the 45 devatas who hold the Vastu Purusha down, as the Paramashayika mandala lays them out.
The Vastu Purusha lies face down across the plot with his head in the north-east and his feet in the south-west; the 45 devatas hold him there. Brahma sits on his navel at the centre, which is why the Brahmasthana is kept open, and the corners and the lines between them (the marmas) are kept free of pillars and heavy walls.
Tap a pada, or a name below, to pick out its devata. The dashed line runs from the head of the Vastu Purusha in the north-east to his feet in the south-west; the short bars on the edge mark the eight door padas.
The order of the two devatas in each inner corner differs a little between the Mayamata and the Brihat Samhita; this is the common layout.
Vastu is a tradition of proportion and light: where the sun comes in, where the air moves, where water gathers and where weight rests. It is offered here as the tradition teaches it, not as a guarantee of health, wealth or anything else, and no remedy here asks anyone to pull down a wall. A structural change is a matter for an engineer, and a large one for the family’s sthapati.