Before starting any kind of construction, the land has to be prepared as per Vaastu norms. If the tips are followed correctly, a Vaastu-compliant house can be completed.
Bhoomi Pooja Ritual: Procedure and Benefits
The Bhoomi Pooja or land worship is the foremost ritual before construction. Very recently, the Government of Assam has conducted a Bhoomi Pooja ritual for construction of a 6-lane Road Bridge over the River Brahmaputra connecting Guwahati with North Guwahati. As per the norms of Vaastu Shastra, any construction for house, business or industrial should undergo a few rituals like bhoomi pooja that can make the place suitable. The different steps in the bhoomi pooja procedure/ ritual proceedings are listed here:
After taking the possession over the property, cultivate and grow plants on the land. Before the land is ready for construction and starting bhoomi pooja procedure, make preparations for clearing out the land. Dirt, debris, humus, and all kinds of rubbish should be removed from the land including the up root of thorny plants and bushes.
The property should be set up during the most favourable time under a most fortunate constellation. The proper time and auspicious date should be selected from the Panchang or some pundit to set up the land for construction. As a general rule, Mondays and Thursdays are two very bright days when it comes to bhoomi pooja benefits.
DO NOT perform bhoomi pooja and do not start the construction if a female member of your household is more than seven months pregnant.
The ground-breaking ceremony should be done when the sun is in the northern hemisphere (Uttarayan) and when days are longer than nights; usually this transpires from June 21 to December 20.
All the construction work should come to an end right at the sunset. It is not advisable to continue working during the night. But with the invention of electricity, this rule has been relaxed and people continue working late to meet deadlines with the help of lights. But still, this practice is not advisable. Not only this, qualified engineers are also required to work on the project.
According to the Vaastu Shastra, storing of the building materials should be done in the Southwest, West or Southeast corner of the property under construction. The positioning must be such that it is at least a meter away from the property boundary. Guards should be placed in the Southeast corner to ensure danger away from thieves.
As per Vaastu Shastra principles, recycling old construction materials to build a new house or building is should be avoided. Old materials should be sold if still usable and the money from the sale should be used to buy new materials. The old building materials carry negative energy from the earlier household.
The Well or Source of Water:
The source of water is very important and it is the foremost job to be done before commencing construction. According to Vaastu, the well should be dug on the North or Northeast side of the property. To locate the most ideal site to dig the well, you should draw a line from the Northeast corner of the plot to the Northeast corner of the house and mark your well to the right or left of the line. DO NOT dig over or on the line. A pit may also be dug at the northeast corner for soaking bricks.
Vaastu guidelines for the Well:
Vaastu for the Compound Wall:
The compound walls and gates are two important constructions that should be done even before the actual construction of the house or building .They are also influenced by constellations during the actual construction of these walls. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday should be considered as the lucky days of the beginning for the construction. Also, the direction to start with should be southwest.
As per the Vaastu rules for the compound wall, the maximum height of compound wall should not be higher than the house to be built. Uniformity is not generally maintained in the height of these walls. Vaastu says that the Southwest part of the wall should be higher than the rest. The walls on the North and East side should be shorter in height by 21 inches than the wall on the West and South sides. If this is not possible, the North and East sides should maintain at least a difference of 3 inches in height than the West and South sides. It is ideal for compound wall to have two gates for the compound, so that the negative energy that enter via one gate will finally make an exit from the other gate.
Vaastu for the Main Gate:
Certain obstacles or obstructions are bad in front of the main gate. They are:
(Image of a dead end)
The existence of a public road across an obstruction from the property can lessen the evil effects. Similarly, if the distance between the obstruction and the house is twice the house's height, the deficiencies will have no bad effect.
If a tree has to be uprooted due to some reason, it should be done so in the month of Magh or Bhadrapada. It is necessary to ask for forgiveness from the tree before cutting it and finally removing it. Also, it should fall in east or north direction. An oath should be taken to replant a tree within three months.
Thorny plants should be avoided except roses while planting a new sapling, while creepers should always be in the gardens with their own support to prevent them from crawling up the building. Avoid creepers on the walls of the main house.
QUESTION AND ANSWERS:
Ashok Dutta, via email
Ans: While Feng shui says it is good to have a water body in front of the main entrance, as per Vaastu it is not good to have one at South. Moreover, tortoise brings luck when kept at the North. If you are bent on having the water body at South, you can construct a raised bowl like structure and store water there. Keeping the tortoise there will not matter according to Vaastu.
Ramen Kalita, Nalbari, via sms
Ans: If the drain is going to West directly from the bathrooms at South, that means the waste water is getting discharged in the southwest corner to the drain outside. You need to divert the outlet of the bathroom so that the water is directed towards the East at first and then let it flow towards the North and finally go out via Northwest!