Vastusastra The Divine Tragedy

There are several regional Vastusastra texts in the country, as Anka- sastra, Aparajita Vastusastra, Vastu-tattva, Vastu-nirnaya, Vastu-purusa-laksana, Vastu-prakasa, Vastu-pradipa, Vastu-manjari, Vastu-vicara, Vastu-vidha, Vastu-samgraha, Vastu-sarvasva, Tantra-samuccaya, Manusyalaya-candrika and so on, which speak more about restrictions of the caste society and its discriminations than architecture. These texts literally succeeded in hoodwinking the people to accept Vastusastra as the sacred architectural wisdom of India. Achari takes on this uncritical acceptance, not because it is a matter of popular superstition, but because it has grown up as an obfuscating canker in the architectural profession today. It is now seeking to penetrate into the professional education in architecture. In the book he has beautifully exposed the fact that there is nothing epistemologically significant about the content of the Vastusastra that cleverly debunked the knowledge and skill of the craftsmen. Analytically addressing a topical theme of global interest, very relevant to the present as well as to the future, I see this treatise of Achari as a potential book of worldwide readership. Rajan Gurukkal