Vāstu — the science of dwelling · door 7 of 10
Finding east — the śaṅku
How the texts find true direction with a rod and a shadow
Match the sky
0 of 6 matchedTap one on the left, then its partner on the right.
Three questions to seal this door
1. The śaṅku method finds —
2. The line joining the morning and afternoon shadow marks runs —
3. A phone compass shows —
The rishi's scroll — read more, if you wish
Before anything is placed, the directions must be true. The Mānasāra and the Mayamata describe the śaṅku, a gnomon: a straight rod set upright in level ground, with a circle drawn around its foot.
Mark the point where the tip of the shadow touches the circle in the morning, and again where it touches the circle in the afternoon. The morning mark is the west point, the afternoon mark the east point, and the line joining them runs west to east. Bisect it at right angles and you have north and south. It needs only a rod and a cord, and it finds true directions, not magnetic ones.
A phone compass shows magnetic north, which differs from true north by a small angle that changes with place; across India it is only a degree or two. For reading a home that is close enough. For laying out a new building, the śaṅku, or a compass set to true north, is the classical way.
The tables on this page are drawn from the same data VEDAUM reads charts with.