The Establishment of the Main Door

Abstract

The planning of the door is a key factor in vāstuśāstra. Generally, the door is established in order to provide adequate ventilation inside the building. Techniques with reference to door planning are expounded considerably in each Sanskrit vāstuśāstra text. Different types of techniques that are employed for door planning even today in Sri Lanka are based on primary Sanskrit texts such as Viçvakarmaprakäça - västuratnävali - Mayamata. However, many architects who consult house construction only have the conventional knowledge. Architects who maintain the traditional adeptness cannot go through the primary Sanskrit texts due to lack of acquaintance of Sanskrit. On the other hand, it is apparent that house construction in Sri Lanka has been critically revolutionized due to the various invasions. Accordingly, in Sri Lanka it is not practiced in the perfect way of planning the door which has resulted in enormous dilemmas. Number, place and direction are central points of door planning. Importance should be given to the variables of païcabhüta and the four main directions when the door is planned. It is believed that door planning facing to the western direction procreates bad effects. However, this is entirely a devious aspect in the track of the techniques in primary sources. The main door that can be planned in each main direction has the foremost identity. Vital dimensions such as length and width in addition to the distinctive characteristics of the main door are discussed in vāstuśāstra texts. In this paper the attempt is made to get to the bottom of this problem on the basis of primarytexts.