Vasati — the Science of Vedic Architecture and Interior Design
By: Manhertz Edit
Tags: Home Decor, Home, Feng Shui, Vastu, Vastushastra

Vasati — the Science of Vedic Architecture and Interior Design

A wonderful example of Vedic architecture in the city of Kanchipuram in South India (Photo by Manhertz Edit, 2017)

Home decor according to the universal laws of nature

If we step in one of Andrea Palladio’s buildings, such as his famous villas in Vicenza, we are filled with an unusual feeling that is unknown when entering into contemporary western buildings. Similar harmony and positive energies are present in the masterpieces of ancient architectural traditions, be they in Europe, India, South America, or any other part of the world. Modern western buildings are rarely able to provide this special feeling to their users and inhabitants.

For the masters of ancient times, it was well known how to build in accordance with the universal laws of nature. These laws form the basis of Chinese Feng Shui, European geomancy, Central American Mayan architecture, and Vastu which has Indian or Vedic origin.

The Vastu writings are about 5,000 years old and according to our knowledge contain the oldest descriptions of these universal laws of nature. The ancient Vastu writings can be found in the Stapatya Veda, which is part of the Atharva Veda. We can hardly find any other architectural tradition that would have survived unchanged from a 5,000-year perspective, and whose principles would be valid to this day. The buildings that withstood the damage and destruction of natural disasters (floods, storms) — in most cases, were built exactly according to the laws of Vastu.

One of Andrea Palladio’s famous villas in Vicenza, the Villa Almarana (Photo by Ágatha Depiné on Unsplash)

The famous Roman architect Vitruvius was certainly familiar with the Vastu writings of India, as the chapters of his legendary architectural writing “De Architectura” refers to one of the classic Vastu writings called Manasara. Marcus Vitruvius Pollio lived 2,000 years ago, and his work inspired Andrea Palladio, who — most probably without knowing it — inserted Vastu principles into his world-famous 16th-century Renaissance architecture. The knowledge behind his work and the origins of his art could have come to light only now by studying the ancient principles of Vedic Architecture. In this way, we can finally understand why do we feel so good in the famous Palladio villas.

Vastu, the origin of Feng Shui

Despite the fact that India and China are separated by the vast mountain range of the Himalayas, there has always been a cultural flow between these two countries. For example, both the ancient Indian martial arts and Buddhism arrived in China over time. The original Sanskrit terms of the various fighting line-ups of kung fu are still known to some masters to this day. Based on the many similarities between Vastu and Feng Shui, it can be concluded that the two architectural cultures have been related to each other for a certain time. While Feng Shui is considered to be about 2,000 years old, systematic descriptions of Vastu can be found as early as the early parts of the Vedic writings, which date back to 5,000 years.

Even more convincing evidence of the ancient age of Vastu is the ancient cities of the 5,500-year-old Indus-Sarasvati culture that were discovered in 1921. As the first town was found close to a village called Harappa, this culture became known as the Harappa civilization. One of the most famous cities of this age is Mohenjo Daro in Pakistan designed in a lattice system. The main streets are north-south and are east-west oriented, dividing the city into rectangular blocks. Mohenjo Daro’s houses were built parallel to the main directions, and in each, we find an inner courtyard. All the cities of the Harappa civilization that were built along the Indus and Sarasvati rivers show a similar structure. They were designed like a chessboard and were divided into square areas of equal size. The temple was erected in the center of the whole city. The town itself was divided into parts according to different functions. These cities did not evolve spontaneously but were built on the basis of systematic plans of pure geometry. All these features strictly follow the Vastu principles, which leads to the conclusion that the science of Vastu already existed before the construction of these cities. The other conclusion is that the Vastu principles are even older than the Vedic scriptures in their written form. (The ancient Vedic knowledge — including the science of architecture — already existed before they have been written down.)

From all these, we can conclude that Vastu is older than Feng Shui and certainly influenced the development of Chinese architectural science. At the same time, we find considerable differences. Among other things, China’s different cultural and climatic conditions may be responsible for these differences. The cold winds of the north and the perpetual military harassment of the Mongols — also from the north — may have led Chinese Feng Shui to view the north as a lower quality direction, while in Vastu (or as we call Vasati) the north — together with the east — is a direction from which favorable energies flow into the house or plot. This is similar to the energetic principles that have been known for hundreds of years in European geomancy and in the work of modern representatives of geomancy. Because of all these Vastu plays a very important role in the architecture and home furnishing culture of the Western world.

Located in South India is the famous temple city of Sri Rangam, which is one of the gems of Vedic architecture. (Photo by Manhertz Edit, Tiruchirappalli, 2017)

Once I was giving a lecture on Vedic architecture in an elementary school. To my greatest surprise, when I started to explain to the kids the five material elements (earth, fire, water, air, ether), they happily told me that they know these elements! As it turned out, four of the five elements were learned in school, only ether was new to them.

So it seems that Vastu is the original, natural art of inviting positive energies into our homes and has been used in the Western world since the time of the famous Roman architect Marcus Vitruvius — without anyone being aware of it.

Vasati — the modern form of Vastu

Vastu is a comprehensive architectural concept. For millennia, houses, temples, and even entire cities have been built on its basis in India. It is based on the natural laws of space energy, and this science is used to bring the living space into harmony with nature and the inhabitants.

The house is like a man’s second body. It works like a lens that focuses on the effects of the natural environment. The quality of the living space affects the health, the mental and emotional state of its residents.

Ancient Indian architecture — Vastu — by discovering the effects of the environmental influences on man has evolved into a scientific system that is based on thousands of years of observation and experience. By this, we mainly mean such influencing factors that we would not even think about, but that affects our health and well-being. These include the Earth’s magnetic field, the subtle structural energies of the Earth and Sun, the orbits of the Sun and Moon, and gravity.

These impacts all affect the quality of our house or apartment. The house can be considered as a bioenergy field that affects the bioenergy field of the human body. The Indian scientist, A.R. Hari conducted research on this and concluded that most chronic diseases are a reflection of our living spaces’ conditions. Violating the natural laws of spatial energy promotes the manifestation of chronic diseases, in contrast, a living space with a strong bioenergy field increases the resilience of the residents against any diseases.

When Vastu is applied to the climatic and cultural conditions of Europe, it is called Vasati, which is the modern form of Vastu. The word Vasati, like Vastu, means a house or a building. My old friend and teacher, Marcus Schmieke (a German physicist, quantum physicist, and inventor), began to use the word Vasati as a name for Vedic architecture.

Thanks to Marcus Schmieke, the science of ancient Vastu — also known as Vasati — became understandable and accessible to the people of Europe. The picture was taken after one of his lectures, in which I was his Hungarian interpreter. (Photo by Manhertz József, Budapest, 2019)

The word itself refers to the three important components of Vasati, and we, the disciples of Marcus Schmieke, consider these three components to be equally important. These are the followings:

VA — laws of energies (physics)

SA — laws of information (astrology)

TI — laws of geometry (mathematics)

Applying Vasati rules to a new building

The rules of Vasati can be used most freely and widely while designing or building a new house. When designing a new building, in addition to the Vasati’s rules, we also take into account the astrological data of the future residents. From these data, calculated by Vedic astrology, we can determine, for example, the own direction of the prospective habitant which shows those directions which are preferable to him or her, and thus we can personalize the building. This is very important information when planning, as it shows which areas of the apartment will be where the owner is feeling well, which ones are better to avoid, or at least use less often.

With the help of astrology, we can also calculate the most favorable starting time for the construction of the house. When designing a new building, a wide range of Vasati possibilities are available — and the success is guaranteed.

Let me give you an example here. Back in the early 2000s, when I was still living in Germany and studying from Marcus Schmieke, he designed a Vasati house that was built in Southern Germany. The house was still under construction we received an enthusiastic phone call from the owner. He was in the half-finished house when a lady appeared in the doorway. The lady in question was intensely engaged in healing with reiki, making her very sensitive to subtle energies. As she accidentally walked near the half-ready Vasati house, she suddenly became aware of a very special, favorable flow of energy. As she followed the source of the energy, she arrived at this Vasati house and told the owner that she did not know what kind of house was being built here, but she wanted to have such a house too…

Our own family house was also built according to the principles of Vasati (Photo by Manhertz Edit, 2020)

Applying Vasati to an existing building or apartment

The question may naturally arise, what can we do if we are unable or unwilling to build a new house, but at the same time want to somehow plant the beneficial effects of Vasati in our apartment? I would like to reassure everyone that we have a wide range of Vasati corrections at our disposal, which we can use to remedy various Vasati deficiencies, eliminate adverse energies, and lure favorable energies into the house.

Let’s have a look briefly at the correction options!

1. Physical changes that may require the help of a bricklayer. (For example, we open a new window or door, move a wall, etc.)

2. We can change the function of some rooms. (The room originally used as children’s room is now used as the master bedroom, or the guestroom becomes the home office, etc.)

3. We can change certain habits. (For example, if the door used as the main entrance is in a not favorable place, we can use another door as the main entrance, which we may not have opened too often before.)

4. We can change the location of the furniture. (We move the large closet off the east wall, turn the bed over, etc.)

5. We might use the five elements (earth, fire, water, air, ether) to make certain corrections. (For example, where you want to strengthen the element fire, you can light a candle regularly or place some electrical equipment or some red-colored object — all these represent fire.)

6. Different colors also have such an effect that we can use during Vasati correction. (It’s very good to place green things in the north of the apartment, or yellow things to the east, for example.)

7. One can use various special energy tools such as mirrors, plants, pictures, minerals, herbs. (It doesn’t matter, for example, which part of the room has a mirror. It has a good effect in the northern, northeastern, and eastern wall, but in the southwest it has an unfavorable effect.)

8. We can use Vasati’s subtle-energy tools. These popular devices are used in such cases when we cannot make any physical changes but the house has serious Vasati deficiencies, or we want to strengthen or transform the energies of an area of our home. These are the two- and three-dimensional energy devices, the Vasati yantras, the Meru chakra, and the Vasati pyramid. (The yantra is a geometric embodiment of energies consisting of symbols, mantras, and specific colors.)

From this list, it becomes clear that there are many options available for the Vasati corrections of an existing building! I suggest you take advantage of these opportunities and improve your quality of life even if (now) you don’t have the opportunity to build a new Vasati house!