Also known asfoundation stoneneevनींवfoundation
Items placed under the ground at bhoomi poojan or shilanyas, such as the naag-nagin pair, the foundation stone (shila) and the kalash, and treatment items such as pyramids or silver and gold nandavart, give results only when set at water level (zero degree).
Under the ground at the shilanyas or treatment point
At the shilanyas or bhoomi poojan of any house or factory the first tilak goes to the mason (shilpi), contractor or Vastu consultant, not the pandit, and they are given the best clothes and a shriphal (coconut). Their goodwill enters the building, while a craftsman's tears of hurt in the mortar act like a buried bone (shalya dosh).
If the foundation stone (shilanyas) has been laid in the wrong direction, the earlier shilanyas is formally dissolved and a fresh one is performed in a new auspicious muhurta.
A well older than 25 years is a pujya (revered) seat of Varun devta and must never be filled in without a vidhi: transfer its deities into a coconut, lower a kalash, fill it with river sand and soil, and leave the coconut in a working well.
Old dug well in any wrong zone, such as the South-West or West
Bhog must be served to each devta at its own pad, in a dona made of leaves or on a paan leaf, with a request to accept it, just as food is served to a guest. Items merely lying in the house are not an offering.
At each devta's own pad
The full purification done where a bone has been dug out, the land's equivalent of the rites after a death: vastu registry with five coconuts, removal of the affected soil, agni sanskar with mango wood, water, gomutra and cow-dung purification, lime and sulphur, a 24-hour lamp and mercury.
The spot where the bone was found, the surrounding soil, and the four corners of the plot
Before construction of a house or factory begins, the muhurta for the shilanyas or start of work is fixed from the rashi of the owner. If the Moon falls 4th, 8th or 12th from his rashi, money stays short however good the Vastu and the door.
Vastu poojan is done not only at the start of construction but at several stages and family events; at griha arambh and griha pravesh it is essential.
The whole house, with an offering at every devta pad
The manushya bhoomi, the second band inward, takes the main door, windows, kitchen, bedrooms, dining room, puja room and stairs. No shilanyas, boring or pit should be made in it, and above all not at the corners of its transition with the pishach bhoomi, where the shishu pishach and pishacha points lie.
Manushya bhoomi, and the corners where it meets the pishach bhoomi
The outermost band of a plot, the pishach bhoomi, is the seat of the 32 lokpals and bears the noise of the road. It is where the boundary wall and its gate, servant quarters, guards and pets belong, where flags are hoisted and where shilanyas (foundation stone laying) is done.
Outermost band (pishach veethi) of the plot, along the boundary
In earlier times, after garbh vinyas and the plinth beam, builders left the work for a season of about three months so that the sun, moon, 27 nakshatras and 9 planets could fully act on the newly acquired and worshipped land.
Plinth level of a new construction
The biggest pooja, havan and sthapana of the 45 devtas should be done at garbh vinyas or shilanyas, while the devtas are on open ground and can receive their samagri at their own pads; the building is then raised over them.
On the open plot, at each devta's own pad
On the exact diagonal where the head of Shikhi devta falls in the NE, no underground water tank or pit should be dug. Vedic vastu marks these Shishu Pishach points, where neither the shilanyas pit nor any water pit is made.
Diagonal points of the plot, especially in the North-East
The left side is the chandra nadi, used for stable and timely work, and the left hand represents the North, where Mercury, the planet of clocks, lives; so the watch is worn on the left hand.
Left wrist
Underground, copper is the best metal because copper and land both belong to Mars; it ionises the land and generates a current. Planet-wise metals are used when orienting to cosmic energy above ground, so a silver kalash goes above ground in the North-East.
Underground: shilanyas pits (ishaan, nairitya, vayavya); above ground: North-East
Because the feelings (bhav) of the builder enter the building. Honouring the mason, contractor or Vastu consultant with tilak, good clothes and a coconut makes him work with joy, while a hurt craftsman's tears in the mortar bring repeated sorrow to the house.
Fix a fresh auspicious muhurta for shilanyas, dissolve (khandit) the earlier one, and perform it again in the new muhurta. It is dissolved the way an installed kalash is removed: by addressing the devtas who supported the earlier shilanyas with a request about it.
After the digging and the garbh vinyas, the plinth beam was raised and then left for one season, about three months. The secret was to let the sun, the moon, the 27 nakshatras and the 9 planets fully work on the land whose devtas had been worshipped, so that the soil became charged and energised before building went on.
Students answered griha pravesh and bhoomi poojan, which is only partly right: the greatest effect comes at the garbh vinyas or shilanyas, the day the land is taken over and the foundation is laid. Then the pishach, manushya, dev and brahma bhoomi are marked, the vastu pooja is done and every devta, 32 in the pishach bhoomi and the rest inside, is worshipped at its own place with its samagri, following the vidhi. A child cannot be born without a seed in the womb, and food works only through the mouth, not the ear or nose, so the biggest pooja, havan and sthapana belong to that day; building over the devtas afterwards is like tethering a cow first and then building its shed. Done later, remedies bring back only about 35% of that role, though even 5% is a lot.
On the ground. That is why they should be established at the shilanyas itself, and their bhog samagri is offered on the ground at each devta's own place.
No. A lot of misleading talk goes around about the 45 devtas. The maximum remedy has to be done when the land is prepared and built on; the other remedies taught for later cannot activate a devta 100% and bring it only to about 30 to 35%.
No. Do it at bhoomi poojan or shilanyas, when the first slab is laid, when the main door frame is installed and on griha pravesh; the start of construction and griha pravesh are essential. Also do it after a renovation in which walls are broken, for a marriage, the start of a job or business and the birth of a child, and once a year on a swayam siddh muhurta such as Akha Teej or Gudi Padwa for a year of happiness and peace.
Removing the bone is not enough; the land needs its rites, just as a house is purified after a death. Do a vastu registry with five coconuts (four corners and the bone spot), remove the affected soil, do agni sanskar with mango wood, ghee and camphor in 16 places and float the ash in flowing water, purify with water and mantra, sprinkle gomutra and plaster with cow dung, put lime and sulphur in the pit, keep a lamp burning there for 24 hours, and mix a little mercury into the soil and the four corners. If the shilanyas had already been done, it is broken and must be redone after purification.
Correct, not on the exact diagonal where the head of Shikhi devta falls. Vedic vastu calculates the Shishu Pishach points, and no shilanyas pit, water pit or any other pit is dug on them; this is taught in the diploma.
The left side is the chandra nadi and the right side the surya nadi. The surya nadi is for fierce or aggressive work, while timely and stable work belongs to the chandra nadi: shilanyas and griha pravesh are done in the chandra nadi at a fixed muhurta, so the watch, which keeps you on time, goes on the left. Also, in the vastu of the human body the left hand represents the North, where Mercury lives and where the clock is hung.