Moving power centres with Vastu (fr. Business Line, India)

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Moving power centres with Vastu

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G.K. Nair, KOCHI, March 24, 2001

IMAGINE Jabalpur as the capital of India. Far-fetched it may sound but according

to Vastu Vidhya Shastra, the seat of power should be in the centre of the

sub-continent and in harmony with nature. Unfortunately, Delhi falls short of

centre by straying north-west -- an indication of chapalata or instability,

says Vastu Vidya expert Kannippayyur Krishnan Namboothiripad.

Under this science, villages, townships and dwelling places should be planned in

harmony with nature. Accommodation is provided at different places keeping in

mind the nature of people's work, their duties and responsibilities. The entire

area had to be divided into 1,024 compartments and the central one will become

the brahmasthanam, which was where the Government should be headquartered.

This ancient science also ensured the safety and security of rulers as well as

that of individual households, Namboothiripad said.

The genesis of vastu vidya can be ``traced in the attempt of ancient

philosophers to systematise the entire process of planning, designing,

constructing and decorating artefacts related to human habitation. This is an

integrated approach to town planning, architectural design, building

engineering and mechanical crafts which are practised as separate specialities

in modern times,'' he said. The fountainhead of Vastu Shastra was the Sthapatya

Veda, an annexure of Atharva Veda, he said.

Vastu meant the Earth and all its ill-effects will reflect on any construction

that was not in harmony with nature, he said.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi had taken steps to propagate Vastu Vidya and, as an

initial step, 37 of his devotees had been trained by Namboothiripad at the

Maharishi Foundation's headquarters in Europe.

Besides, the foundation will be building 12 meditation time zones as per Vastu

Shastra around the world. While 11 of these zones will be built at a height of

1,600 feet, the twelfth, to be built in Jabalpur, will be 2,200-foot high. The

zone in Jabalpur is to be built on an area of 133 lakh sq feet at an estimated

cost of $199.5 million. The foundation stones of all these zones had been laid,

he said.

Siva lingas would be consecrated at these sites and rudrabhisheka conducted

every morning. With the zones located in areas where the sun rises with a

two-hour difference, rudrabhishekas will be conducted uninterrupted around the

world in the mornings, 24 hours for world peace, he said. The Ashram built at

Uttarkashi by the foundation was also in line with vastu vidya.

Of late, there is a growing awareness among engineers, both in India and abroad,

about the importance of this ancient architectural science, he said.

Kannippayyur, as he is popularly known, is the head of the Vastu Vidya Gurukulam

at Aranmula in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district, run by the State Government,

where 40 engineers/architects are being trained in vastu vidya shastra.