- The meditation room or mandir/prayer room holds a very special position in every Hindu home. It is a place of devotion, hope, trust and even refuge. In view of its immense significance, it is essential to create a space that embodies the best possible principles of Vastu Shastra. 

The best direction to worship is the North-east. As per VastuShastra and Vastu experts, the north-east corner is known as Ishan (the corner for Eshwar or God). This direction is recognized as the point from where Earth’s powerful magnetic energy is generated. Therefore, this is an ideal location for a mandir. However, if the mandir in your house is not located in the north-east, make sure to face this direction while praying. 

Best vastu tips for the mandir are as follows:

1. The idols and images in a mandir should be placed on a wooden platform. Rosewood is a good wood to use here. Do not use ply or laminated wood. The idols can be placed on marble and stone as well.

2.    Make sure that the size of the idols is not more than the size of the thumb of the owner of the house. This is because idols that are bigger than the thumb are usually placed in a community mandir. These idols undergo a ‘pranpratishtha’ ceremony whereby they are symbolically filled with power. After this ritual, the idol is taken care of as a human being, because it is believed that the idol now has life energy in it.

3.    Make sure the mandir in your house is not positioned next to the bathroom. One should even avoid building a mandir in the bedroom or the kitchen.

4.    Don’t build a mandir underneath the stairs, or construct any structure over it, as you would end up symbolically stepping on it.

5.    Placing pictures, idols and tiles of Ganesha on gates and at the front of a house is not advisable. Goddess Lakshmi’s sister Daridrata, whose name means poverty, is featured on Lord Ganesha’sback.     So, when you place the God with His back to the house, you are, in essence, inviting poverty into the house.

6.    Never place pictures of deceased people or your Guru in the mandir. This is because the deceased person or guru was a human being, and as such, have a lower position in comparison to God.

7.    Make it a point to light a diya or burn incense before the Gods in your mandir every evening.