Vastu Shastra rests on a single foundational myth: the Vastu Purusha. When Shiva fought the demon Andhaka, drops of his sweat fell to earth and became a being of vast hunger who devoured everything. The gods trapped this being face-down on the earth and assigned each of the 45 deities a portion of his body to press down on. This cosmic being — the Vastu Purusha — is the template for every built structure: the temple or house is built over the prostrate body of the Vastu Purusha, and the plan must respect which deity occupies which part of his body. The centre of the mandala is Brahma's position; the northeast is Ishana (Shiva); the northwest is Vayu (Wind); the southeast is Agni (Fire); the southwest is Nirriti (Dissolution). Source: Kramrisch (1946).
The mandala and the temple plan
The Vastu Purusha Mandala is the generative diagram of the Hindu temple plan. The temple is not merely a building but a cosmogram: its plan is the Mandala mapped onto the earth, its vertical axis is the cosmic axis (Meru), and its spire (Shikhara or Gopuram) represents the mountain at the centre of the cosmos. The innermost sanctum (Garbhagriha — the "womb-house") is positioned over the exact centre of the Mandala where Brahma sits — this is where the deity's image is installed and where the divine presence is most concentrated. Source: Kramrisch (1946); Eck (2012).
Nagara and Dravida — the two temple styles
Indian sacred architecture divides into two broad regional families: Nagara (North Indian) — characterised by a curvilinear Shikhara (spire) over the Garbhagriha; the Mandapa (hall) attached to the front; horizontal mouldings (bhumis) marking the spire's stages. Key examples: Lingaraj temple (Bhubaneswar), Kandariya Mahadeva (Khajuraho), Somnath. Dravida (South Indian) — characterised by the Gopuram (gateway tower) which is larger and more elaborate than the main temple's tower; the Vimana (main tower) over the Garbhagriha is relatively modest. Key examples: Brihadeeshwara temple (Thanjavur), Ranganathaswamy (Srirangam), Meenakshi Amman (Madurai). A third style, Vesara (hybrid), exists in the Deccan. Source: Kramrisch (1946).
Vastu Shastra in contemporary practice
Vastu Shastra has experienced a significant revival in contemporary India — applied not only to temple construction but to domestic and commercial architecture. "Vastu-compliant" buildings are marketed across India; Vastu consultants advise on house and office layouts. The contemporary practice ranges from rigorous traditional application (following the classical Manasara texts) to popular simplified rules (main door not facing south; kitchen in the southeast; master bedroom in the southwest). Scholars distinguish between classical Vastu Shastra as a sophisticated philosophical-architectural system and the simplified popular form. Source: Kramrisch (1946).
Kramrisch (1946). Eck (2012).
Kramrisch's The Hindu Temple — the definitive study
Stella Kramrisch's two-volume The Hindu Temple (University of Calcutta, 1946; reprinted Motilal Banarsidass) is the most comprehensive scholarly study of Hindu sacred architecture in any Western language. Kramrisch's approach is both technical (precise measurements, proportional systems, Sanskrit terminology) and philosophical (the temple as a cosmological statement, the Garbhagriha as the cave of the cosmos). Her central argument: the Hindu temple is not merely a place of worship but a cosmological body — it is the universe condensed into architectural form, with every element from the foundation to the finial carrying a specific cosmological meaning. Source: Kramrisch (1946).