With a steadily growing number of business and industry leaders insisting upon homes and offices being vastu-compliant, there’s rising demand for practitioners of this now mainstream science

Once dismissed as oriental mumbo-jumbo, Vastu Shastra — an ancient Indian science of construction or architecture based on traditional lore relating to how the laws of nature affect human habitations and well-being of people living and working within them — has become a widely accepted mainstream science.
Across the subcontinent, a steadily growing number of industry and business leaders and successful professionals are building their homes, offices, retail outlets and factories according to vastu precepts and practices. On the basis of research studies in this time-honoured science, a set of scientific procedures of vastu evaluation of buildings has been developed, which reportedly enable those who work within them to enjoy better living and working conditions, good health, emotional well-being and business and professional success.

Inevitably this socio-economic phenomenon has generated a huge and growing demand for reliable — preferably professionally qualified — vastu consultants countrywide. Since Vastu Shastra was a science taught in the oral Vedic tradition of guru-sishya, documented papers and texts are rare and require determined and sustained search and self-study. But fortunately self-study — a sine qua non of this ancient architectural science — can now be supplemented by formal study programmes.

One of the most popular and well-known institutes offering vastu education and training is the Aunkar Foundation, New Delhi (www.aunkar.org). Founded by Vastu Shastri Khushdeep Bansal, it provides intensive short-term courses in mahaVastu and advanced mahaVastu. The foundation also conducts regular workshops and two-day seminars organised by its MahaVastu Centre every quarter. Other institutes offering vastu courses include IFAS, New Delhi; Sai Vaastu Kendra, Hyderabad and ICAS, New Delhi.

The pains of self-study and research preferably topped up with a professionally administered vastu shastra learning programme is well worth the effort, as earnings in this latter-day vocation tend to be high. A beginner can earn Rs.35,000-50,000 per month while a consultant with experience of 12-24 months is likely to rake in Rs.70,000-150,000.

“There are huge employment opportunities for experts in this newly emerged vocation for independent consultants, and for vastu professionals who are increasingly being signed up by architecture firms and construction companies. Moreover there is rising demand for vastu teachers. But over and above the monetary rewards which are excellent, there’s the satisfaction of enabling the well-being, success and prosperity of grateful customers which is immeasurable,” says Khushdeep Bansal, an eminent VastuShastri and founder-chairman of the Aunkar Foundation.

In keeping with middle class tradition, Bansal acquired an engineering degree from Nagpur University in 1992 and even landed a coveted job in the US. But while awaiting his visa and work permit, he signed up for a vastu training programme with a gurukul in Madhya Pradesh “to learn Vastu Shastra in an authentic way”.

While a student at the gurukul, he was asked by the owner of an edible oil processing plant to investigate why the fresh produce of his facility was regularly getting contaminated. “It was all because of the machines facing the wrong direction. I fitted iron strips in the earth around the machines and installed a sodium vapour lamp to balance the earth’s electro-magnetic field. The processed oil didn’t get spoilt again,” recalls Bansal.

Within a matter of weeks, Bansal’s reputation as a vastu expert spread far and wide and he was called in to fix the problems of many factory owners. “I made Rs.1.5 lakh in one month. It was a lot of money those days,” reminisces Bansal, who cancelled his plans to work in the US and set himself up as a full-time vastu consultant. Since then, he hasn’t looked back, and has documented more than 10,000 successful MahaVastu case studies and distilled the results to develop scientific MahaVastu application processes. In 2001 Bundelkhand University honoured him with a Doctor of Science degree (D.Sc honoris causa).

According to Bansal, the future is rosy for vastu experts. “With the country experiencing a sustained real estate boom and a growing number of builders keen on ensuring their constructions are vastu compliant, the demand for trained vastu shastra professionals is growing by leaps and bounds. Most of the people enroling for our MahaVastu courses are qualified civil engineers, architects and interior designers. However, a professional degree isn’t a precondition of learning vastu shastra,” says Bansal.

To meet the rising demand for professionals, last year Aunkar Foundation promoted its MahaVastu Institute. The institute is growing steadily and invites affiliation applications from colleges that want to include study programmes based on its curriculum and guidelines. “We have over 20,000 documented case studies detailing the impact of Maha Vastu principles on finance, health, business, relationships and other concerns of clients. This is a science which can change — and has changed — the lives of millions of people for the better. It works!” says Bansal.

Indra Gidwani (Mumbai)