Vastu Shastra tips to ensure and maintain a harmonious environment for your kitchen and family.
Just as the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, the prosperity of a home is through the Vastu Shastra of its kitchen. “Vastu” translates to Architecture and “Shastra” is Science meaning the Science of Architecture. It originated as the traditional Indian system of Architecture elaborating on the layout, geometry, design principle, space and ground preparation.
A kitchen is a sacred place where food is prepared, we get our daily nourishments and fuel from. It is of the utmost essence that this symbol of purity in the house follows all the Vastu guidelines for a happy home and healthy family.
Just like the overall Vastu Tips for Home, here are the specific Vastu tips for your kitchen.
Direction and Placement
1. An adequate balance of all elements; air, water, fire, space and earth, should be achieved and maintained throughout the grounds of the property. The South East corner of the house is ruled by “Agni Devta”, god of fire. This is the best location for the kitchen to be in. North East and South West directions are to be strictly avoided in order to maintain the mental well-being and steer clear from losses. Furthermore, East being the direction welcoming sun rays, it helps kill germs and bacteria by the beneficial UV rays and sanitises the space. So it is crucial to have windows on the East side of the kitchen and if that is not possible, South can work too.
2. East is the best-facing direction while cooking and West is the 2nd best alternative direction. Traditionally, as women used to spend long hours of the day in the kitchen and miss out the nourishing vitamin D, the reasoning behind East-facing windows extend to this as well.
3. Make sure that the kitchen is not directly below or above a washroom, bedroom and pooja room or place of worship.
4. As the stove is majorly what gives the kitchen an identity association, the placement of a stove too in the southeast direction is important. Never place the gas stove and the sink on the same platform or even parallel. The stove represents the fire element and the sink sides with the water element, causing tension between these two elements which don’t gel well. An L-shaped kitchen slab would be the way to go.
5. The size of the kitchen too is prominent as an extremely small kitchen can cause ill effects on the women of the family. The confined space filled with smoke from the cooking can cause uneasiness and suffocation.
Interior and Aesthetics
6. The walls of the kitchen should appear lively and inviting, which colours like Yellow, Orange and Red enable swiftly while giving rise to appetite too. A dash of White in the cooking space is a great idea as white too exemplifies purity and White is known to absorb light and reflect brightness. Pastel shades too are a good choice. Dark colours like black and brown should totally be avoided as they create a dark, gloomy atmosphere that attracts depressing energy.
7. Marble, stone and wood are the best materials to be used for the kitchen platform. Graphite is not advisable to be used as the slab. Darker shades especially in Black are to be generally avoided in the kitchen as it attracts negativity and darkness.
Strict Don’ts
8. Never place the water purifier or a pot of water in the South East direction as it signifies fire. Instead, the North East corner is best suited to ideally keep an earthen pot or any water-related storage appliance. But, cooking appliances are to be kept in the South East direction and not the North East, contrary to water resources.
9. Avoid leaving the garbage bin open or keeping dirty or unwashed dishes overnight. This would majorly attract bacteria, flies and unwantedly welcome health issues and illnesses.
10. Never keep broken utensils or cracked and chipped dishes and mugs in the kitchen. It is advisable to replace such utensils with new ones.
Although if some of these practices cannot be incorporated then there are Vastu remedies to help with the current situation. For example, a bone china vase can be placed between the sink and stove if they happen to lie on the same platform.
Lastly, it is crucial to keep the kitchen neat, clean and ventilated at all times for the good health and hygiene of the entire family.
