Finding north and the centre of your home

Every rule in Vastu depends on two measurements: which way north is and where the centre of the home lies. Get them wrong and every zone is wrong; get them right and the rest of the course is arithmetic. This lesson is about getting them right.

Taking a bearing

A bearing is the direction from one point to another, in degrees clockwise from north: north is 0, east 90, south 180, west 270. A phone compass reads the bearing of the direction the top of the phone points. To take a reliable one:

1. Hold the phone flat, away from metal, magnets and appliances.
2. Move it in a figure of eight if the needle drifts, which calibrates the sensor.
3. Take the reading two or three times from the same spot; if they differ by more than a few degrees, move away from whatever is disturbing it.

The Vastu compass on this site does this with one tap and shows the zone as you turn.

True north and magnetic north

A magnetic compass points to the magnetic pole, which is not quite the geographic one. The difference, the declination, varies by place and year; across India it is between about two degrees west and one degree east, which is less than the width of a sixteenth zone. The tools assume zero and have a setting if you want to enter a value for your place.

Finding the centre

The brahmasthan is the centre of the built area, the point from which zones radiate. On a rectangular plan it is where the two diagonals cross. In practice:

• Use the outer walls of the house, not the plot boundary.
• Ignore balconies, porches and open terraces unless they are built over and closed.
• For an L shape or a plan with a wing, take the centre of the largest rectangle that fits the main block, and check the wing as its own small plan.
• For a flat, the flat's own outer walls, not the building's.

The floor-plan tool finds the centre from two corners you tap and draws the zones from it; the compass tool assumes you are standing there.

Working from a plan

A plan with a north arrow is the easiest source. Set the north angle in the floor-plan tool to match the arrow, mark the corners of the built area, and the overlay does the rest. If the plan has no arrow, take the bearing of one straight wall with the compass at home and enter it.

Worked example

A flat whose outer walls make a rectangle 12 m by 9 m has its centre 6 m from the short walls and 4.5 m from the long ones. Standing there, a compass pointed at the front door reads 95°: the door is in the east zone. Pointed at the kitchen it reads 140°: south-east. Those two facts already answer the two most-asked Vastu questions.

Calculate yours

Try the calculator this lesson explains.

Bearing

°Use my phone's compass

Degrees clockwise from north: 0 north, 90 east, 180 south, 270 west.

Calculate