The Vastu Purusha Mandala and the 32 entrances

The Vastu Purusha Mandala is the grid that organises a Vastu site: a square divided into smaller squares, each assigned to a deity, with the Vastu Purusha, the spirit of the site, lying across it. For homes its practical use is the outer ring of 32 padas, eight on each side, which decide where a main door should be.

The story and the grid

The texts tell of a being who grew to cover the earth and was pinned down by the gods, each holding part of him; the site plan honours that by giving each square its holder. The common house grid is nine by nine, 81 squares: Brahma in the central nine, the brahmasthan, which stays open; the eight dikpalas and their companions around; and 32 deities on the outer ring.

What a home-owner needs from this is the outer ring. Each side of the house, north, east, south and west, is divided into eight equal parts, and each part is a pada with a name and a quality.

The 32 padas

Side	Padas from the left corner (seen from outside)
North	Roga, Naga, Mukhya, Bhallat, Soma, Bhujag, Aditi, Diti
East	Shikhi, Parjanya, Jayant, Indra, Surya, Satya, Bhrisha, Akash
South	Anil, Pusha, Vitatha, Grihakshat, Yama, Gandharva, Bhringaraj, Mriga
West	Pitra, Dauwarik, Sugriva, Pushpadanta, Varuna, Asura, Shosha, Papyakshma

The bold padas are the ones the common lists favour for a main entrance. Notice that every side has them: the pada rule is what makes a south- or west-facing home as workable as a north- or east-facing one.

Counting the padas on your wall

1. Stand outside facing the wall that holds the main door.
2. Divide that wall into eight equal parts from its left corner.
3. The part that holds the centre of the door is the door's pada.

Numbering conventions differ between schools; some count clockwise around the house. The names are the same, so if a practitioner names your pada you can find it in the table whichever way they counted.

Why the centre is kept open

The central nine squares, the brahmasthan, belong to Brahma and are kept open, light and free of weight: no pillar, no toilet, no staircase, no heavy furniture. In a flat this is usually the living area or a passage, which is why the tradition likes a home whose middle is a room you walk through rather than one you store things in.

Worked example

A house whose main door is on the north wall, in the third part from the left as seen from outside, has its entrance in Mukhya, a favourable pada. The same door one part further left would be in Naga, which the tradition avoids. That is the whole difference the House facing checker measures, and it is a matter of a metre or two.

Calculate yours

Try the calculator this lesson explains.

Door bearing (standing in the doorway, looking out)

°Use my phone's compass

Degrees clockwise from north. Use the compass button from the doorway, or type it.

Where the door sits along that wallNot surePart 1 of 8 from the left corner (seen from outside)Part 2 of 8 from the left corner (seen from outside)Part 3 of 8 from the left corner (seen from outside)Part 4 of 8 from the left corner (seen from outside)Part 5 of 8 from the left corner (seen from outside)Part 6 of 8 from the left corner (seen from outside)Part 7 of 8 from the left corner (seen from outside)Part 8 of 8 from the left corner (seen from outside)

Divide the wall into eight equal parts from the left corner as you face the house from outside.

Calculate