Vol 85, April 2004

Environmental Considerations in Vaastu Culture for

Residential Building Orientation
V K Awasthi, Non-member
N B Singh, Non-member
Dr D S Bhargava, Non-member
Dr M Singh, Non-member
In recent times, the ancient Vaastu culture has assumed a significant role in the planning and orientation of residential
buildings. The technology of Vaastu application, originally based on a scientific footing, has assumed a kind of a technology
of myths by the pseudo-Vaastu experts. A study, based on environmental considerations, energy entrance into the residential
buildings, aestheticity aspects, etc has been carried out on 50 randomly selected residences in Lucknow to correlate the
buildings environmental-cum-orientation placement with the prosperity of its dwellers in all its possible aspects. A good
correlation between the two aspects (namely, the orientation and prosperity) justify the scientific basis of Vaastus application
in the orientation and planning of residential buildings. This article contains evolved criteria and rating grades for
different orientation situations of various components of residential building apart from a suggested model plan of an
ideal residential building.
Keywords : Vaastu ; Building complex ; Design criteria
INTRODUCTION
The basic needs of human-folk in the society are: food, cloth
and shelter. People spend much of their time in their homes.
Comfort and environmental considerations are, therefore,
important aspects of a house. The Vaastu is the science of
building and essentially the art of balancing nature with man-
made environment and correct placement of man in such a
manner so as to get the maximum benefits of the energy
emanated by natural and man-made environment.
The two basic tools of building planning are the architecture
(based on science of aestheticity, comfort and utility) and the
Vaastu Shilpa Shastra (based on myths with linkages to health,
wealth, fortune, happiness, prosperity, etc). An individual gets
confused as also with the growing trend and fashion of Vaastu,
the basic features of environment often get ignored.
With the recent developments and higher living standards,
house construction has now become so complex a task that
internal form and environment are determined by the
functional requirements of the occupants. The space needed to
meet these functional requirements and the required comfort
levels in regard to such items, as noise, health, happiness,
temperature, humidity, lighting, etc, are often considered.
Similarly, the working conditions of the workers (especially in
factories), should also be improved to make the people feel that
work is more a pleasure than a task to enable greater efficiency
and increased output. The external form as well as environment
depends upon the site characteristics and adjacent buildings.
The health conditions of the masses can be improved by
providing them with open spaces, clean environment (refreshing
to mind, eye and body), good hospitals, colonies, homes and
sanatoria along with other facilities. All these aspects are greatly
influenced by the constraints arising from time and cost.
The objective of this study is to incorporate maximum
environmental considerations in the residence planning and to
remove the mis-conceptions between the distortedly practiced
Vaastu and the environment. This article attempts to develop
orientation related design criteria for residential buildings by
incorporating maximum environmental considerations. The
evolved design criteria are correlated with field-live data. The
present Vaastu has been attempted to become more of a
scientific technology.
LITERATURE REVIEW
In ancient India, science, medicine, astrology, astronomy,
mysticism, philosophy and spirituality lived in amiable
juxtaposition, their boundaries overlapping and one enriching
the other. The principles of Vaastu and environmental
considerations in residential buildings were formulated keeping
in view the cosmic influence of the Sun, its light and heat, the
direction of the wind, the earths magnetic field and the
influence of Cosmos on the Earth. House building design,
comprising its internal and external environment, has
traditionally been the responsibility of the architects.
V K Awasthi and N B Singh are with the Institute of Engineering and Technology,
Lucknow; Dr D S Bhargava resides at Bhargava Lane, Devpura,
Haridwar 249 401 and Dr M Singh is the Director, Government College of
Architecture, Lucknow.
This paper was received on November 7, 2003. Written discussion on the paper
will be received until June 30, 2004.
1
IE(I) Journal-AR
The scriptures on Vaastu were written thousands of years back
at a time when architecture was primarily for the king, the
royalty and for the religious structures. The basic architectural
principles vis-a-vis climate, orientations, functions, planning, etc
are now being left on the back seat by the planners and
designers. Particularly in India, the very possession of a house
is regarded as a symbol of prestige belonging to community and
status in the society.
Environmental considerations in residences is as old as the
architecture, the Vaastu and the Vedic Era. Rich pure
architectural evolutionary Shashtra or theoretical treatises were
unfolding in Shloka after Shloka, providing just the minimum
theoretical base. In the Shastras, architecture was described as
a Shilpa (craft) and not as a Kala (art) and certainly not as a
Jyotish Vidya (astrology). The cities of the Vedic period were
rectangular in shape and divided into four quarters, namely,
the citadel, the residential area, the merchants and trademen
(who could display their wares). Early Hindu architecture
gradually metamorphosed into the magnificent Buddhist Stupas
and the rock-cut caves at Ajanta. The great culture at Harrapa
(in 3000 BC) applied Vaastu to created sophisticated cities. In
the shala structures, the proportions and sizes of the
quadrangles used for residential purposes, were based on caste
considerations which hardly has any significance in todays
context. The tenets of Vaastu Shastra could be employed for
the general planning considerations of residential and other
colonies with due modifications. The Vaastu Shastra provides the
guidelines for the design of buildings and planning of cities,
such that, the same would bring health, wealth and peace to
the inhabitants. Man builds the city so that the city shall build
his dwellers. Today people have global appreciation of
geomagnetic or cosmo-telluric fields. The last 30 years have seen
revival of the ancient Roma, Egyptian, Vedic or Chinese
thoughts. The Shadvargas or Marma in Vaastu or energy flows
of Pyramidical of Feng-shui are better understood by
environmental medicine in Europe today. The London
University offers a Doctoral Dissertation in Vaastu Shastra while
India is yet to get this field of design recognized as alternative
architecture.
The new profession of architecture sidelined the Vaastu Vidya
or the traditional Indian knowledge of architecture. Vaastu
Shastra is as old as knowledge itself, but the profession of the
Vaastu Consultants is a recently modified one, applies only a
fragment of this knowledge. It is time Vaastu Shastra is made
free of its mystic garb and developed as a logical and scientific
discipline. Vaastu Shastra is also described by the Vaastu Pundits
(experts) as The Edifice Science (a science whose principles, if
followed in planning a house or building, will ensure peace of
mind and progress for its inhabitants). It is claimed that the
science is the result of a study of the nature and the occult by
ancient Aryan sages and seers. It considers the impacts of
earths magnetic fields, the Sun, bio-chemical effects, etc on
humans, mainly in their prosperity to acquire wealth. Research
in neuro-science has shown that the Cosmic counter-parts,
namely, the Sun, the Moon, Planets have a one-to-one
relationship to the different parts of the brain (namely, the basil
ganglia, than and hypothalamus). Thus, the Vedic formula of
orienting building towards the east to gain the support of the
rising Sun and an ideal house according to Vaastu, is a perfectly
square house, with a central courtyard. Environmental energy
has successfully been used in healing diseases like asthma,
angina, cerebral palsy, diabetes, depression, epilepsy, fatigue,
hypertension, insomnia, migraine, muscular dystrophy, stress,
schizophrenia, tension, etc and about 40 000 patients of various
ailments were healed in the last 15 years. Long before it became
fashionable, Vaastu Shastra had been researched by Sanskrit
scholars through a study of Shikpashastra, Matsya, Agni
Purana, Samaragana Sutradhara Arthashastra, Mansara and
many others including the epics and it was accorded the status
of a science like Dhanur-Veda (military science). The role of
the architect as a designer is totally confused with that of
astrology. Indian architecture has traditionally been considered
exotic, not subject to the same rules of analysis as the western
examples.
METHODOLOGY
For designing criteria, six-key accommodation units, namely, the
gate, drawing room, kitchen, toilet, stair, and bed rooms of a
residence were taken into consideration. There are eight possible
direction for orienting these units [that is, four coordinal
directions, namely, North, South, East and West and four
angular directions, namely NE, NW, SE, SW]. Grading scales
were evolved for each of the accommodation units on the basis
of various aspects of the environment, namely, lighting,
ventilation, energetic electromagnetic waves, size and
aestheticity. The details of grading score of various components
are given in Table 1. Each aspect has its own importance.
Negligence of any one aspect may negate the effect of all others.
The evolved design criterion was then tested in the field by
taking 50 random residences from the city of Lucknow. The
various accommodation units were awarded marks as per the
evolved grading system and, thus, the total calculated value or
the overall rating of each residence was called as the orient
rating. Table 2 gives the details of scoring method of various
components of a residential building in regard to aesthetic
aspect. The residents were personally interviewed to record the
events and feelings of the dwellers with the help of a
questionnaire. Appendix 1 provides the format of the
questionnaire. The answers were recorded on a five-point rating
scale. Thus, the overall feeling called as the Fact Finding Rating,
were observed. The two ratings were compared during the
analysis of the data.
DEVELOPMENT OF DESIGN CRITERIA
While orienting the various building components or objects, the
direction is determined by its closeness to any of the eight
2
Vol 85, April 2004
directions. However, when placing the opening like doors,
windows, ventilators, gate, etc the direction is generally
perpendicular to the wall containing the openings in view of
the entry of solar energy. The basic principles of the criteria for
various environmental aspects were adopted as discussed below.
Lighting Aspect
India, being a tropical country, has extensive summer for almost
eight months a year and there is thus no light deficiency and
hence efforts are directed to prevent the entrance of excessive
light during these months into the buildings. Since, light is
correlated with heat, the buildings must exposed to the Sun,
gets heated up during the day and remain hot till late night.
During the summer season in India (northern hemi-sphere), the
Sun passes over head of the accommodation unit, thus
capturing lesser heat form side windows, while during the
winter season, the Sun passes from east to west with southward
inclination, the Sun rays are distant and are captured in higher
quantity from the side windows. At the same time, the gates and
the drawing rooms need maximum morning light with
uniformity and the avoidance of excessive heat, and the kitchen
needs excess light and heat to support the cooking. In toilets,
cooler environment is needed, whereas, the stairs need
maximum lighting because of thoroughfare throughout the day.
The bed rooms need maximum light of the declining Sun to
have good after effects. On this basis, the score grading chart
is presented in Table 1 for various accommodation units.
Ventilation Aspect
If a window is relied upon as the sole means of ventilation, care
should be taken in its selection and placement to minimize
drafts and to permit easy air access. Exhaust fans in the wall or
ceilings are often used to supplement natural ventilation. In
interior bathroom spaces, a mechanical exhaust, of course is
essential. Good ventilation is very essential in bath rooms, both
to reduce humidity and to dispel odors
2
.
In India, the wind blow is generally in east-west direction while
the movement of wind in north-south direction is for minimum
hours of a day. Hence, wind should be availed from east
direction and the windows position is best in the north-south
walls to capture more natural air resource. Generally, 15%-20%
of floor area of any accommodation unit is adequate in the form
of windows and ventilators. On this account, the weightage and
grade chart for various accommodation units are given in Tables
1-3.
Electromagnetic Waves Aspect
Electromagnetic radiations move from north to south direction
while electro cosmic waves move from east to west direction
3
.
The effects of healthy infra-red (IR) and harmful ultra-violet
(UV) radiations of solar energy are very important. Direction
of accommodation units should be, such that, it receives
maximum IR radiations of the morning and minimum ultra-
violet radiations of the noon. It is apparent from Figure 1 that
Score Orientations for the Residential Units of
or Gate Drawing Room Bed Room Kitchen Stair Toilet
Grad- Light, Electro- Size, Light and Venti Size, Light and Venti- Size, Light and Venti- Size, Light and Venti- Size Light and Venti- Size,
ing magnetic Waves m Electro- lation m
2
Electro- lation m
2
Electro- lation m
2
Electro- lation out Electro- lation m
2
Weight and Ventilation magnetic magnetic magnetic magnetic of 4 magnetic
Waves Waves Waves Waves asp- Waves
ects*
10 NE 2.50 E NE 20 SW NE 15 SE SW 5.0 SW SW All4 NW NW 5
9 E NE E S E S S S S N W
8 N 2.00 N N 18 W N 12 E W 4.5 W W any W N 4.5
-2.49 -20 -15 -5.0 4 -5
7 NW SE NW NW NW SW NW SE NW NE SW
6 SW 1.50 NW SE 15 N SE 10 NE SE 4.0 NW SE Any E S 4
-1.99 -18 -12 -4.5 3 -4.5
5 W W W SE W W N N N SW SE
4 S 1.00 S S 12 E S 8 NW E 3.0 E E Any S E 3-4
-1.49 -15 -10 -4.0 2
3 SW SW SW NE SW N NE NE NE SE NE
2 1.00 12 8 3.0 none 3
* Four aspects: (1) : width of stairs=0.9 m -1.2 m; (2) riser 200 mm; (3) tread 250 mm and (4) number of steps in one flight =3 to 12
Table 1 Scores (grading weight) of various components of a residential building
Figure 1 Variations of IR and UV radiations during a day
3
IE(I) Journal-AR
the quantum of infra-red (IR) radiation in the morning is
highest, least in the noon and again gets increased in the
evening, and vice-versa profile for the ultra-violet (UV) energy
of a quantum of light, E=hc/ where h is the planks constant;
c, the velocity of light and is the wave length. Since, wave
length of ultra-violet waves is lesser than of infra-red, the
UV wave is more energetic and affects the human beings more
adversely. On the basis of above principle and as per the activity
of various accommodation units, the grade charts are prepared
as given in Table 1.
Size Aspect
The size of the accommodation units depends upon the living
standard of the family, and shape of the furniture to be
incorporated into it. The total floor area required will serve the
maximum utility if the length to breath ratio is between 1.2 and
1.5. The door openings should be adequate (say 1m), so that
peaces of heavy furniture could easily be moved in and out. The
minimum unbroken wall surface will enhance the proper
arrangement of the furniture. Interiors should be so arranged
that user should face east or north to avail the opportunity of
lighting, ventilation and IR radiations. On the basis of above,
various accommodation units with their minimum and
maximum sizes have been graded as per the grade chart given
in Table 1.
Aesthetic Aspect
It is the most important aspect, and may negate every plus point
of other aspects, if it is ignored. For example, if the kitchen is
excellent with respect to every aspect other than aesthetics
(located just near the toilet from where the foul gases originate),
the positive effect of other aspects gets negated. The following
points are considered when grades are awarded to various
accommodation units.
An obstacle like huge structure in front of the building or
accommodation unit may prevent lighting, ventilation and
IR radiations.
Existence of some nuisance in front of the accommodation
unit (say community waste or a drain).
Presence of electric, telephone poles, causing adverse effect
on utility of the building.
Undesirable ending of the road.
Rooms of different activities are inteconnected, disturbing
the privacy of each other.
The improper size of the openings.
Internal arrangement within the accommodation unit are
chaotic.
On the basis of above principles, taking regard of adverse
effects, the grades have been awarded as 10, 8, 6, 4 and 2,
respectively for none, any one, any two, any three and all of
Table 2 Score method (grading weight) of various components of a residential building in regard to the aestheicity aspect
Residential Unit Situations to be Considered
Gate Any obstacle like huge structure existing in front of the building. This prevents lighting, ventilations and IR rediations.
Existence of nuisance in front of the building, say community waste or drain
Presence of electric, telephone poles causing adverse effect on utility of the building
Undesirable ending of the road
Drawing Drawing room and bed room are interconnected, which have their quite different activities and disturb the privacy of the bed room.
Room Central position of drawing room (as in European countries) causes distrubance in privacy and inconvenience to Indian ladies.
Length to breadth ratio is more than two.
Huge obstacle in front of the drawing room, causing problems in lighting, ventilation and other environmental aspects.
Bed Position of bed rooms towards external noisy area causing noise pollution.
Room Opening of the of the bed rooms breaching privacy and reducing the usable internal space
Puja place existence within the bed rooms.
Improper size of the window(s).
Kitchen Toilet is located in just vicinity of kitchen or dining, making the environment vicious.
No wall has proper ventilator to open space.
Improper size toilet placed below stair which makes the space congested.
Improper approach for external/internal users.
Stair Improper stair from utility point of view.
Improper lighting and ventilation.
Public toilet, puja and store beneath the stair.
Number of winders are more.
Toilet Toilet is located at the vicinity of kitchen or dining making the environment vicious.
No wall has proper ventilator or open space.
Improper size toilet placed below stair makes the space congested.
Improper approach for external users.
4
Vol 85, April 2004
the various encountered four considerations/situations listed in
Table 2 for various units of the residential building.
EVALUATION OF ORIENT AND FACT FINDING
RATINGS
After developing the design criteria, as discussed earlier for
orientation of accommodation units of the residential buildings,
the next step was to evaluate the individual unit. Orient Rating
in respect of the randomly selected 50 residences is made then.
The actual happening events and feelings of the dwellers, were
obtained through personal interviews with the help of a self-
structured questionnaire, covering every aspect of events, peace,
prosperity, etc as detailed in Appendix 1. This overall observed
value expressed as a rating has been called as Fact Finding
Rating. Thus, there was a set of 50 Orient Ratings against the
50 Fact Finding Ratings
4
(Table 1). These data were statistically
analyzed to arrive at some possible correlations.
ORIENTATION OF RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
AGAINST THEIR PROSPERITY
The Orient Rating is the overall grade of the house, based on
orientation of different accommodation units as per the
developed design criteria. The Fact Finding Rating is the grade
of the house, based on actual happiness and feelings of the
occupants. The absolute rating numbers were converted into
percentages. The data collected were analyzed statistically by the
method of least squire technique (regression) between the
buildings evaluated actual value (Orient Rating) and the
corresponding observed value (Fact Finding Rating). The best
curve fit follows a linear trend having a coefficient of correlation
(expressed as R
2
) of 0.881 manifesting a strong correlation
between the Orient Rating (calculated value) and the Fact
Finding Rating (observed value) as shown in Figure 2. It is thus,
easily concluded that the orientation of accommodation units
in a residential building (based on the presented environmental
considerations) is always compatibly with the health, wealth and
prosperity of the occupant. The proposed design criterion is,
therefore, scientific and justified.
The six key units of a residence, namely, gate, drawing room,
kitchen, toilet, stair and bed room are cross-checked on the basis
of Vaastu. The literature available speaks about the single best
orienting positions of these various accommodation units as
gate : NE; drawing room : E; kitchen : SE; toilet : NW; stair :
SW and bed room : SW. The presented environmental
considerations also advocate these positions as the best for
respective accommodation units. The orientations of the
remaining units will, therefore, be expected to match with the
orientations based on the environmental considerations. This
proves a deep correlation between the environment and the
Vaastu. The basic recommendation of the real Vaastu would
have thus, been based purely on the environment. However,
unfortunately, this real shape of Vaastu has currently been
distorted by translators and the pseudo-experts. Thus, the
suggested grade charts developed as per the environmental basis
shall comply with the real Vaastu, and the recommendations of
the furnished chart will also be fruitful and prosperous for the
building occupants from the Vaastu point of view.
CORRELATION BETWEEN ORIENTATION OF ANY
SINGLE ACCOMMODATION UNIT WITH OVERALL
PROSPERITY
The lone accommodation unit which affected mostly the overall
prosperity of the occupant, was also evaluated. Six plots were
drawn
4
between Fact Finding Rating (as percentage) against the
individual orientation scores (as percentage) of the gate, drawing
room, kitchen, toilet, stair and bed room. It was noticed that
none of the above accommodation units has any significant
effect on the overall feelings (effects on the Fact Finding Rating)
of the occupants because all the correlation coefficient values
were below 0.8. However, the maximum influence was from the
drawing room and the second highest was that from the
kitchen, Hence, drawing room and kitchen are the crucial
accommodation units which must be oriented with caution
because they do manifest some reasonable effect on the overall
happenings for the building dwellers. However, as already
shown, there always exists an integrated effect of all the
individual accommodation units on the overall prosperity of the
house occupants rather than the effect of any one single
accommodation unit to any significance.
The plots between the Fact Finding Ratings/gradings (as
percentages) individually in rspect of the nine aspects, namely,
surroundings (or locality) around the buildings, health of
5
Figure 2 Orientation rating against fact finding rating of the 50 randomly
selected houses
IE(I) Journal-AR
occupants, finances of the dwellers, childrens education,
harmonical relationship of the house occupants, social (out of
homes) relationships of the house dwellers, professional fame of
the house inmates, security of the house and its dwellers, and
infrastructure facilities available to the occupants, with respect
to the overall (combined) orientation gradings (expressed as
percentage) as well as individual grading for the gate, drawing
room, kitchen, toilet, stair, and the bed room, manifested the
Figure 3 Proposed model plan
6
Vol 85, April 2004
correlation coefficients [highest values which were always for the
overall (all units of the building) orientation grading except for
outside relations where it was highest for the orientation of the
kitchen and the toilet, and for security when it was highest for
the bed room] of 0.53, 0.55, 0.68, 0.78, 0.66, 0.45, 0.46, 0.29
and 0.57, respectively. These manifest that there is no
significant correlation between orientation of any single
accommodation unit of the residence and the happenings,
feelings and/or prosperity of the house inmates. There exists only
a combined impact of orientation of all the stated key
accommodation units on the overall prosperity of the dwellers.
PRACTICAL APPLICATION
On the basis of the study and design criteria developed to
orient the key accommodations, a model residential plan has
been prepared and shown in Figure 3. This plan shows that the
plot with east and north side roads is the best one. However, if
this sort of corner plot is not available, the east facing plot can
be planned in such a way that it has maximum open space in
east and north sides. As per the basic concept of directions
adopted in the study, the position of gate is best in N-E
direction enabling maximum entry of electro-magnetic and
electro-cosmic waves, which are most fruitful for the health of
the house inmates. The drawing room in east side with adequate
window space in east and north sides makes it most usable for
the day hours activity. Position of kitchen is S-E with east side
window enabling the first ray of the Sun to fall on the tip of
kitchen window to make it more hygienic. The position of toilet
in N-W, would enable draining/purging of the foul gases away
from the house and provide a cooler environment. The position
of master bed room lies in S-W, where the east-side window
allows the entry of morning infra-red radiation and the west-
side window will provide the says declining of the Sun to the
useful in the night. The stair has been placed at a position
where it shall absorb excessive heat from the south side and shall
always remain well lighted for thoroughfare throughout the day.
This plan is an ideal plan but many times there are constraints
to provide every accommodation at its best place. The grade
charts can then help the planner to place the various units for
maximum possible grade and render the overall planning more
practically applicable.
CONCLUSION
The above study justifies the evolution of Vaastu from the
environmental considerations. Following observations are made
based on the study made as stated above.
Environmental friendly orientation of different
accommodation units of a residential building is directly
proportional to the degrees of health, wealth and prosperity
of the occupants.
Implementation of environmental consideration in orienting
different accommodation units of a residential building is
the real compliance of Vaastu. This study proves that Vaastu
emanates from the environment but not the vice-versa.
The prosperity of house inmates does not depend on the
orientation of any single accommodation unit of a residential
building. It does depend on the overall orientation of all the
key units. The implementation of design criteria, based on
environmental considerations presented, will bring maximum
peace, prosperity and comfort to the house dwellers.
REFERENCES
1. www/Lerning 000/org./-4K. Modern Vastu, Energy Science,
India. Journal of Environmental Vaastu.
2. D E Joseph and Johan Callender. Time Saver Standards for
Building Types (3rd Edition). McGraw Hill, Inc, New York, 1990,
p 7.
3. Col T P Tyagi. Harmony of the Cosmic and Geo-energy is a
Must for Mental Peace. Proceedings of the 80th Annual General
Meeting of the Institution of Engineers (India), U P State Centre,
Lucknow, 2000, p 105.
4. V K Awasthi. Environmental Considerations in Vaastu Culture
for Residential Building Orientation. Master of Technology in
Environmental Engineering, U P Technical University, Lucknow,
2003.
5. Prabhakar Bedge. Vaastu ShastraThen and Now. Journal of
Indian Architecture, vol XV, 1998, p 28.
6. V Chakrabarti. Looking beyond Directions on Vaastu Vidya.
A+D Architecture Design, vol XV, 1998, p 42.
7. M Chauhan. Indian Canons of Planning. Journal of Indian
Architecture, vol XV, 1998, p 30.
8. H D Chhaya. Vedic Spirit in Architecture. Journal of Indian
Architecture, vol XV, 1998, p 21.
9. A Prakash. Vaastu Correct-out House in Architecture. A+B
Architecture Design, vol XV, 1998, p 34
10. Yashdeep Srivastava. Claivoyant Passots and other Architects.
A+D Architecture Design, vol XV, 1998, p 38.
11. www.org./-kg.
12. J Abel and F Severaud. Apartment Houses. Reinhold Publishing
Co, New York, 1947 p 444.
13. P K Acharya. An Encyclopedia of Hindu Architecture. O U P,
London, 1946.
14. S P Arora and S P Bindra. Building Construction (4th Edition),
Dhanpat Rai and Publications (P) Ltd, 1998, p 1.
15. R Chawla. Evaluation of Residence by Vaastu. Sampurana
Vaastu Shastra, vol 1, 1998, p 57.
16. B Dwivedi. Remedial Vaastu Shastra (1st Edition). Diamond
Pocket Books (P) Ltd, 2001, p 12.
17. J Fergusson. History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, Delhi
(1st Edition). Munshi Ram Manohar Lal, 1967.
18. D E Joseph, P Julius and Z Martin. Housing and Residential
Development. McGraw Hill, New York, 1995, p 4.
19. A N Lambah. Adoptive Reuse of Historic Strueforeces. A+D
Architecture Design, vol XV, 1998, p 35.
20. Beazley Mitchell. The Elements of Style (1st Edition). Stephen
Callway, 1994, p 448.
21. Virginia Morell. The Variety of Life. National Geography, 1999,
p 17.
22. Planning Housing Environment for the Elderly. National
Council of the Aging, 1974.
7
IE(I) Journal-AR 8
Appendix 1 Format of a questionnaire for data collection regarding the prosperity of the building dwellers
Name of the Occupant :
Address :
Orientation of Accommodation Unit (Fact Finding Number)
Accommodation Direction Size Aesthetics
Gate
Drawing room
Bed room
Kitchen
Stairs
Toilet
Feelings of Occupant (Fact Finding Rating)
Aspect/Grade Excellent Very Good Good Average Poor Total Marks Remark
10 10 10 10 10
Surrounding/Locality
Health
Financial
Children education
and settlement
Relations among
house inmates
Relations outside
the residence
Fame in profession
Security aspect
Infrastructural facilities
Overall feelings
Grand Total
23. National Geographic Society. Millennium in Maps:
Biodiversity. National Geography.
24. N Parakh and S Parakh. Feng Shui (2nd Edition). Navneet
Publication (India) Ltd, 2002, p 13.
25. S Paul. Vaastu Architects Dilemma Heritage. A+D Architecture
Design, vol XV, 1998, p 5.
26. B Rowland. The Art and Architecture of India. The Pelican
History of Art, Harmonds Worth, 1953.
27. G Singh and J Singh. Building Planning, Designing and
Scheduling. p 36.
28. D N Shukla. Vaastu Shastra. Bhartiya Vaastu Shastra Series,
Punjab University, Chandigarh, vol 1, 1960.
29. L Joel Swerdlow. Biodiversity: Taking Stock of Life. National
Geography, 1999, p 5.
30. Vaastu Vidya Handbook. The Indian Feng Shui. Three Rivers
Press, New York, 2000, p 1.
31. O Edard Wilson. The Future of Life of New York, NY. Alfred
A Knopf, New York, 2002, p 106.
32. D Zimeramen and D Patrick. Residential Treatment for Children
Youth. Journal on Environmental Vaastu, Residential Treatment
Online, 2003.
33. www/Vastu.com. Maharishi Sthapatya Veda in Canada: Housing
in Harmony with Natural Law.
34. www/Vastu.com. Ancient Indian Art of Designing. Mystic
India.com.
35. www/Vastu.com. Vedic House Tour : Maharshi Sthapatya Veda.
36. www/Field Guide to Feng Shui and Vastu 2002. Siudzinski,
Anne-Marie, Journal on Environment and Vastu.
37. Micheal F Shaughnessey. Mileu Theraphy Environment. Journal
on Environmental Vastu, 2002.
38. Cambridge Scientific Abstracts. Risk Abstracts.
39. www.csa.com. Sociological Abstracts (SA).
40. www.vastucreations.com. Robin Mastro, Vaastu Variations LLC.
41. www. Environmental Vastu. Education Research Abstract (ERA).
42. www. IndiaNest.com. Ashish Nangia. The Vedic Age, 2001.
43. www. IndiaNest.com. Ashish Nangia. A History of Indian
Architecture, 2000.
44. www.ucsusa.org/resources/res-home. Our Lates Activities.
Union of Concerned Scientists. September 15, 1999.