Sthapatya Veda House Plans
Christain Cobb
Maharishi Peace Palace is a type of pre-engineered building designed to house the educational and meditational activities of the Transcendental Meditation movement. Each Peace Palace is built using standardized plans compatible with Maharishi Sthapatya Veda design principles.
In 2000, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi announced his aspiration to build thousands of Peace Palaces around the world. Proposed locations in the United States have included the cities of Atlanta, Denver, New York City, Minneapolis, Long Island, Colorado Springs, Los Angeles, Charlottesville, Pittsburgh, Boston, Tulsa, and San Francisco. In addition, construction has been proposed for Ottawa, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec in Canada; Auckland, New Zealand, and the cities of Birmingham, Coventry, Glasgow, Newcastle, Sunderland, Rendlesham and Middlesbrough in the UK. As of 2007, 52 parcels had been acquired[1] by the Global Country of World Peace (GCWP) and construction was planned via tax-free bonds obtained through the Colorado Health Facilities Authority as well as private investors. As of 2013, eight peace palaces have been completed in the United States.
In 2000, the Maharishi announced his aspirations to build one or more Peace Palaces in each of the 3,000 largest cities around the world.[2] A 2006 prospectus for the TM movement's Raam bond specified 5,000 peace palaces worldwide.[3] Another plan called for 2,400 buildings but was later reduced to 100 or 200 in the USA[2] and 14 in Canada.[4]
"Maharishi Peace Palace" is described as a "pre-engineered",[5] MSV-designed building. Plans are available for four sizes, the "medium" option being a 12,000-square-foot (1,100 m2), two-story building[6] with a white, painted or marble-clad exterior.[2] Depending on its size and other factors, a peace palace might include a spa facility, dormitory, meditation room, lecture hall, meeting room, a Maharishi Ayurveda shop, and a library.[2][7] The peace palaces are intended to replace rental properties currently housing the TM movement's teaching centers, retail outlets, and spas.[2] They have been called "Maharishi Enlightment Centers" or "Maharishi Invincibility Centers" or "Peace Palaces".[8] Some could be connected with organic farming operations, either on-site or at nearby rural locations.[7]
Film director and TM benefactor David Lynch said a Peace Palace is a "peace factory" rather than a "pretty building".[9] An article in The New York Times described a peace palace as "an Indian temple crossed with a Southern plantation mansion" with their consistent appearance being part of a branding effort.[2] Critics claim that the plan is aimed at increasing the Maharishi's financial assets[2] and doubt that the hundreds or thousands of proposed Palaces would be built,[10] while a possible lack of interest in the Peace Palaces might be attributed to the Maharishi's death. A spokesman at the Maharishi's funeral in 2008 said that the construction of peace palaces would remain a top priority.[2]
In 2007, The New York Times reported that 52 parcels had been acquired for Peace Palaces.[1] They are being built in the US by the Global Country of World Peace (GCWP) and overseen by the Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation (MVEDC), as well as by private partners.[2][11] David Lynch initiated an effort in 2003 to raise $1 billion for palace construction.[12] In 2007, the GCWP applied to the Colorado Health Facilities Authority, a private group that serves as a vehicle for financing construction by non-profit healthcare institutions, for an issue of $55 million in tax-exempt bonds to finance construction of Peace Palaces in 21 cities, and the purchase of an organic farm in Goshen, New York. The GCWP would be responsible for the debt and interest.[13] In order to get IRS approval for the tax-exempt bond, the GCWP had to get endorsements from the city councils or state authorities of the jurisdictions where it planned to build.[14] A 2008 report states that $40 million was borrowed to build nine Peace Palaces, and was secured with $250 million in real estate assets.[2]
Those who finance the construction of Peace Palaces are called "Founders of World Peace".[3] In at least some cases, the Palaces are intended to run on a for-profit basis with returns going to investors.[15] Two or three Palaces have been built by private individuals.[2][16]
Other US locations include New York City,[38] Atlanta,[39] Denver,[38] Minneapolis,[38] Long Island,[13] Charlottesville,[13] Pittsburgh,[40] Boston,[10] Tulsa,[41] Hamden, Connecticut,[6] and the San Francisco Bay area.[7]
In February 2008, MSV Homes submitted plans to build a 2 million, three-story, 33-bedroom Peace Palace in Rendlesham, Suffolk. It would be part of the 30-home, 24-apartment Maharishi Peace Colony. The plans were approved two months later, despite community concerns.[42] The building will replace a center in Badingham that was used for 25 years.[43] According to a 2013 report in British news service, fundraising is underway and construction is expected to begin at year end.[44] Additional peace palaces have been proposed for Birmingham,[45] Coventry,[15] Glasgow,[46] Newcastle,[47] Sunderland,[47] Rendlesham[48]and Middlesbrough in the UK.[47]
Question Do Northern & Southern India agree on what constitutes the Sthapatya Vedic literature or is there some disagreement? Is it generally (all over India) agreed that Vastu Science originated in Southern India?
The Brahmins say they came from outside India by the Kyber Pass some 3500 years ago. From the north they migrated south. About 2500 years ago they settled here in the south. So they learned all these things. Only during that period were they able to collect this material for the Vedas. Even today northerners come to the south, stay here, learn the culture here, and then go back. And if you go toward the north, you find the strong culture that is pervading South India is very much diluted. All the Shastras, all the Vedas, all the science, everything, existed only here in the South.
The ancient rituals were originally very simple. Merely prayer to God. Not these kinds of rituals: putting dress, ornament and festivals. All these did not take place in ancient period, There was contact between God and man. Not an intermediary.
Question So, the spiritual effects of a building facing true east & one facing south-in-general are identical or only similar? Are the effects of the directions the same for secular buildings as temples or are there some differences?
Answer If the consciousness of some great identity is stimulating the action of, for example, a spiral galaxy that would indicate that each form indicates a state of consciousness. In otherworlds, the form is an expression of a state of consciousness.
Question I was trying to get a feel for how the guru tradition views Sthapatya Veda. The religious community seems to feel it is important- you said all the temples are built with Sthapatis. I was wondering if the gurus in general thought it was superstitions or made use of it regularly.
Answer The ideal condition is to have the entire house directly connected to the ground, no crawl space, no basement. This allows the energy of the Earth to directly radiate into the house. This energy is very good for health.
Question Yes, when the weather is warm. But what about when it is very cold? What about insulation? A friend built a house with no insulation under the floor and I can remember his floors getting wet in the summer here because of the condensation.
Comment Same in the Native American tradition. Grandmother Twylah, Matriarch of the Seneca Wolf Clan and an awesome person in terms of clarity of consciousness, healed herself of paralysis this way.
Question In a warm climate with a long growing season where all you store are things like spices, beans & grains because fruits & veggies are available all year, it makes sense to have your storage on the main floor on the north side. But in climates like ours, where storing vegetable crops is a necessity if you need or want to eat local produce all year round, you want a root cellar under the house.
What does Sthapati say about design differences between warm & cold climates? I mean, there must be differences between the buildings of Southern India and the ones up in the Himalayas, no? Does any part of India with people living in it have significant snow? Have you been there to see the buildings?
Question How do the walls of a closet line up with the grid lines? Do they have to be right on like the walls of the rooms or do they line up like the windows (you try to center them between the grid lines)? If you have a closet running the whole length of a room. do you measure the room dimensions from the front wall (door side) of the closet or the back wall of the closet?
I also notice that the only allowable entries that line up on opposite sides of the house are for one pair of doors- one on the S & one on the N. It does not seem allowable to have a door exactly opposite the East entrance. Is there an interesting reason for this?
Very interesting. This is what I have read from the energy efficiency people as well. In very cold climates, square is best because it exposes the least surface to the outside and so holds the heat. More moderate regions (including Iowa) can go more rectangular but never more that 1 : 2.
If you want the house longer there is a solution: you can create a gap of one module or a multiple of a module or even a fraction (1/2, 3/4). At that gap the house should be open to the sky directly or though generous skylights.
3. Has any Westerner seen these documents? Would it be permissible to translate them? (From my studies in Bali, I know that such treatises are usually carefully guarded.) If so, it may be possible to get someone a grant to do that.
6. re: energy grid. (This is exciting to me, because much of the Vastu science fits in with my dowsing/geomancy studies.) Does your teacher recommend putting a structure BETWEEN major energy grid lines on ON them? (Is there a difference for temples versus houses?) I understand they should line up or be one degree off, regardless.
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