Vāstoṣpati (Sanskrit: वास्तोष्पतिः "house-lord", an inflected compound of vāstos, the genitive of vāstu "house", and pati "lord") is a Hindu god that presides over the foundation of a house or homestead, mentioned in Mandala 7.55 of the Rigveda. In the Rigveda, Vāstoṣpati is also referred to as pṛdāku-sānu, or 'he whose back is speckled'. As a topic, Vastuvidya, also known as Vāstuśāstra, contains regulations about residential building construction and which sites are chosen for this purpose. The 52nd chapter of the Bṛhat Saṃhitā is entirely devoted to the topic of Vastuvidya, including the house layout, proportions, orientations of different areas of the house, and how construction varies for queens, kings, officials, people, etc.
Vāstu means the site for building and also the house. Hence vāstu pūjā means the worship of the site chosen for building a temple or a house. It is treated as a must for safe and sound construction.
References
- Sarma, Sreeramula Rajeswara (2020-07-01). "The Growing Influence of "Vāstuśāstra" in India". Orientalistische Literaturzeitung (in German). 115 (2): 97–102. doi:10.1515/olzg-2020-0033. ISSN 2196-6877. S2CID 220370993.
- Manu (1991). The laws of Manu. London, England: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-196662-5. OCLC 1085905517.
- Richter-Ushanas, Egbert (2013). The Message of the Indus Seals and Tablets as preserved in the Rg-Veda and the adjacent traditions. Norderstedt. ISBN 978-3-8448-9738-8. OCLC 863889351.
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