Aura

Vastu In The Kitchen

Kitchen The Vastu of the place where you cook is very important for peace and happiness in the life and for the health of a family.

Vastu is an ancient Indian art that harnesses the energy of natural elements like the heat and light of the Sun, gravitational force of earth, direction of the winds, the intensity of rainfall etc. and uses them to balance with the surroundings of mankind.

Vastu Shastra, a buzzword in Indian households, assumes more importance when it comes to the Kitchen’s location and situation. In this article we try to focus on Kitchen Vastu.

The kitchen is a place where our daily food is cooked. Every housewife wants to have an organized, spacious and muddle-free Kitchen. Today’s Kitchen is not only a place for preparing food but also a place where the guest usually steps in after the living room.

There can be no place in your house or apartment as important as the Kitchen. In ancient times, cooking was done on open stoves and the washing of utensils, and pre-cooking preparation of food items were done outside. Kitchen Vastu is primarily based on the directions of the Sun and the wind, and helps balance energy in your Kitchen and maintain peace and happiness in the life of family residing in that home or apartment.

From the olden days, our elders planned to place the Kitchen in the South-East only which is called the “Agni” corner. Even the North-West is better than the North-East. Best is to place the stove towards the East while we cook, which means our faces are turned towards the East.

The Kitchen should always be to the South- East corner of the house or at least to the North-West corner of the house. Avoid placing the Kitchen at the North-East corner of the house which may lead to lots of unrest, quarrels, and misunderstandings between the members of the house besides unnecessary expenditures, worries and tensions.

It is also better to avoid the Kitchen at the South-West side. Otherwise, it is also likely to cause many difficulties and worries to the owner. Whichever direction the site might face, it is best to have the Kitchen in the Southeast. The cooking stove should be placed in the Southeast and it should be lit facing the East. By doing so, the house owner’s health and peace of mind increases.

In a South-facing house, it might be difficult to have the Kitchen in the South-East hence the Kitchen maybe set up in the North-West room. In a North-West Kitchen, the stove has to be placed in the South-East, and the person lighting it should always face the East. In North-West Kitchen, the stove can be placed in the North-West or West only when it is inevitable. By doing so, the stove faces the East and the person lighting the stove faces the West. As a result, the guests coming to the house increase and the women have to frequently light up the stove more often for coffee and other refreshments for the guests.

At no cost should the Kitchen be situated in the North-East, in the East or in the North and it is very bad if already done so. If done so, the household money gets spent fast, there are always tensions and quarrels going on and many kind of accidents may befall on the people of the household. It is not that the Kitchen should not be set up in the South, West or South-West rooms. The stove has to be placed in the South-East, facing the West and the stove should be lit facing the East. People newly constructing houses should see that the Kitchen should not be set up in the South-West, West or South rooms, as they make good bedroom sites for the house-owner and his children to sleep in. In a Kitchen, the Eastern slab should not touch the Eastern wall.

Attics should not be put up to store articles in the East and North. In a Kitchen, the storage shelves and attics should be in the South and West. The Kitchen should have its heavier articles placed in the South and West like the fridge, grinding machine, heavy vessels, and water storage drums. The slab is put up in the East, away from the Eastern wall separated by a gap of one inch. Care should be taken that the slab should not be reaching towards the North-East. The shelves, slabs and attics should be in the South and West.

In the recent past, our elders say that we have to maintain only one stove or burner. Those days Kitchens used only firewood to cook food while being located outside the house. Even now we observe many village Kitchens outside the house. Also the top of the house was usually made with bamboo which can catch fire easily. What it means: those days our elders didn’t have fire engines, fire fighters etc. So proper care had to be taken to light a fire for safety and health purposes. Nowadays we don’t use firewood anymore to cook and Kitchens are planned in Western style.We use only gas stoves which are much more stable and there is much less possibility of a fire accident compared to open cooking.

Kitchen Store: Storage is essential in today’s Kitchen. You can make your Kitchen muddle-free by using two types of storage such as open and closed storage. Open storage has the advantage of hanging storage and open shelves. Closed storage consists of cabinets, drawers, pantries and Islands. Both open and closed storage create muddle-free space in your Kitchen which also depends on your Kitchen design.

Cabinets are the first choice to make a Kitchen muddle-free. They provide closed storage to the Kitchen. Cabinets are very useful to reduce muddle from your Kitchen but they should be organised. Drawers also make efficient storage for Kitchen.

Kitchen Vastu tips:
• Besides the South-East, another direction best suitable for constructing the cooking area is the North-West.
• If the plot of the land is diagonal, constructing the Kitchen in the North-West is not recommended.
• Clean your Kitchen cabinets, drawers and pantries regularly and throw out food that you think has become old or food that you don’t have any use for.
• South-East corner of the house is the perfect Kitchen direction. The South-East corner is dedicated to the Hindu god Lord Agni or the God of Fire hence this direction is appropriate.
• The arrangement of the direction for Kitchen should be such that the doors should be placed in the North-East or North corners of the room. Windows must occupy the East direction.
• The North-East corner should never be used for constructing the Kitchen. This direction is best suited for living rooms and meditation rooms because the morning sun rays enter from this direction earlier compared to other directions.
• Cooking should be done in the South-East corner or on the East side of the Kitchen. It is best to cook while facing East but facing North is also all right. It is advisable not to put the stove on the northern wall. The stove should not be in front of the Kitchen’s door.
• Some people find racks easy to access than anything you place in the Kitchen. You can opt for a wall or ceiling hung rack to store larger items of Kitchen, such as pans wasted overhead space. Place wall rack along the wall to store plates, bowls and upper area for full-size utensils. Racks will always help to make your Kitchen muddle free.
• The Kitchen should ideally be in the South- East corner of the house, its windows on the East and South sides. There
can also be a window on the West side. If the Kitchen cannot be in the South-East corner, it is all right to place it in the North-West corner. The Kitchen should not be next to or across from a toilet, nor should it be directly in front of the main door.
• Electrical items such as microwaves, grinders, and mixers should be placed in the South-East corner of the Kitchen. The sink should be in the North- East corner. The South-West wall should be used for storage. The refrigerator should be in the North-West, South-East, South, or West. It should not be placed on the North-East side. If it is on the South-West side of the Kitchen, be sure to set it away from the wall.
• If there is a dining table in the Kitchen, it should be placed on the North or West side. The door to the toilet should not face the dining table. Kitchens should be painted yellow, rose, red, orange, or chocolate brown. If possible, do not paint the walls white or black.