When we refer to vaastu shastra, most of us are of the view that it is related to religion and so there is a lack of interest or enthusiasm on our part to know and understand this subject . But it is not so. According to vaastu shastra expert Mrs. Sashikala Ananth, there is a lot to be learnt and understood by one on this subject. Sashi, apart from being an architect, is a writer, teacher and a designer all rolled into one. A woman of multi-dimensional talents, she occupies an important place in the field of architecture and Vaastu shastra. Keeping vaastu as the fundamental principle, she has designed temples, schools, colleges, hotels and offices.
A graduate of B.Arch from Anna University, Sashi spent over 10 years practicing building and Interior Design and later on studied the science of vaastu. She now combines what she has learnt with modern architectural design. " Vaastu is an art and a science where the details of architecture and the fine qualities of the nature of the earth are explained. unfortunately, many people are misusing this art for monetary benefits. Vaastu does not imply any religious thought", says Sashi vehemently. She further adds that hundreds of years ago, nearly 60 books still existed, dealing with vaastu in several Indian languages like Sanskrit, Gujarathi, Tamil, Malayalam and Oriya. There is proof of this even from the vedic age. It has been passed on down through generations and there is specific mention about this in Atharvana Veda, in an allied text called ' Vaastu Soothra Upanishad'.
After concentrating on architecture from 1972-'82, she studied the art and science of vaastu from V Ganapathy Sthapathy for another ten years. Today she can proudly claim that she is the first woman vaastu exponent in India. Generally, in our society women are not allowed to learn the vaastu shastras but Sashi did not encounter such obstacles.
" I never faced any impediments. Right from my childhood I had read plenty of books based on Vedanta and
Siddhanta which were a part of Sanatana Dharma now known as Hindu Religion. Intrigued by these, I approached Ganapathy Sthapathy to learn about Vaastu. In those days women were not allowed to learn Vaastu, but he was kind enough to take me as his student”.
I improved my knowledge by reading a lot of texts and finally combined vaastu with modern architecture. For the past twenty years I have been practicing vaastu combined with modern architrecture . This has not been an easy path", reminisces Sashi about her initial days.
Regarding how a house should be built, she says that in the olden days when one entered a house , the hall, courtyard, veranda and backyard were all arranged such that the home was always filled with breeze and natural light. But now such houses are very rare due to lack of space. There is a grammar of design and understanding of cosmology which are appropriate for any building context..She says’ "No matter which state one is in or what ever the climate may be, each room should to have adequate ventilation and the kitchen should not be built near the main door”
Particularly in Chennai, if the house is facing east, the kitchen can be in the north west where there will be the least breeze. According to Sashi, a completed house is full of life and by altering it, the life forces that operate inside the house get affected. She compares this to the damage caused to a human body after invasive surgery and says that the house too gets affected in the same manner .She has written a variety of books on vaastu and played an important part in producing a documentary picture called 'The living Tradition, a Shilpi Speaks' which won the President's Award in 1991.
She compares vaastu to yoga and calls them shastras based on science. It is common to all and can be used by people irrespective of their religious background. It is no exaggeration to say that if Yoga is good for physical health, then Vaastu is good for the health of the house.
She has 350 students worldwide and has her own website
http://www.vaastuhealing.com.
In this website one can find plenty of information on vaastu and it's application in today's architecture. She has conducted seminars and training sessions in Australia, England, Europe and America and says that people abroad evince a lot of interest in
vaastu.
Feng Shui from China is also similar to our vaastu. It is very popular in western countries, and slowly vaastu is also being used in architecture there. She teaches vaastu and trains people in it, and many come to her for consultations. The houses best suited to the Indian climate are made of earth, according to her. In olden days, more of quicklime was used and later on after the 70's cement was used extensively instead of quicklime. Cement produces heat and so of late in countries like America they have started using earth , quicklime and other such traditional materials while constructing houses.
For some one who has been writing articles and publishing books on vaastu for many years now, she wants to create a greater awareness about it among our people. When a huge amount is spent on building a house, she feels that it should be built in the best possible manner by taking advantage of vaastu. She wants each person to know the value of vaastu and reap its benefits in their lives.
When we refer to vaastu shastra, most of us are of the view that it is related to religion and so there is a lack of interest or enthusiasm on our part to know and understand this subject . But it is not so. According to vaastu shastra expert Mrs. Sashikala Ananth, there is a lot to be learnt and understood by one on this subject. Sashi, apart from being an architect, is a writer, teacher and a designer all rolled into one. A woman of multi-dimensional talents, she occupies an important place in the field of architecture and Vaastu shastra. Keeping vaastu as the fundamental principle, she has designed temples, schools, colleges, hotels and offices.
