This checker takes where your puja room, corner or shelf is, which way you face while praying and how high the shrine stands, and sets each against what our puja room page found. Two points are classical: the Brihat Samhita builds the room for the gods in the north-east (53.118), and it says one should not sleep on a level higher than that of the gods (53.124). Everything else, the facing, the shelf, the lamp and the rules about stairs and toilets, is modern practice, and the result keeps the two apart.
How it works
You choose the zone of the home the shrine is in and the way you face while praying, then answer eight short questions. The images face the opposite way from you, so the result names both.
The place is set first against the Brihat Samhita’s north-east. If you choose the centre, the result shows that the texts differ: Acharya’s summary of the Manasara puts the family temple in the central square of a compound and keeps that square free of residence, while the Brihat Samhita gives the north-east. Both are classical, and the result counts neither as a fault. The room placement guide lists the centre among the places modern guides advise against for a puja room; our puja room page gives no such modern rule, so for the centre that rating is shown as a note and not counted.
The modern second choices, the east and the north, are read from the same table as the room placement guide, so the two tools agree.
The height is asked twice, because it means two things. The classical point is about people: nobody should sleep on a level higher than the gods, a point of respect in the same verse that lists grain, cows, a teacher and fire. The modern point is about the shelf: it should stand a little above the floor.
The other modern points are facing east or north while praying, images that do not face each other and stand clear of the wall, no shrine under a staircase, beside or above a toilet or in a bedroom, the lamp in the south-east of the room, and no broken images or dried flowers kept. The one practical point is a flame kept on a steady base, away from cloth, with air for the incense.
Reading the result
The result lists every point under its own heading, practical first, and gives a count for each kind. The count is a tally and not a grade, and a point that differs comes with the free step that goes with it.
Facing north-east is shown as a note: it lies between east and north, the two directions modern guides name, and whether a diagonal counts is our reading. Facing south-east, south-west or north-west differs, like facing south or west, since none of them lies between east and north. A bedroom on the floor above the shrine is also shown as a note, because whether the verse meant the floor above is a reading it does not settle.
Where traditions differ
The two classical texts answer the question of place differently, the north-east of a house in one and the centre of a compound in the other. The page on the puja room says the two can be reconciled as a room in a house and a shrine in a compound, but the texts do not say so, and a household following either is following the tradition.
The modern rules are many and are not found in the verses read for this site. Some are the plain good manners of worship, such as cleanliness and not keeping a shrine on a toilet wall. Some follow from the direction scheme. They are shown as common practice and not as classical rules.
What it does not do
It does not say that worship depends on a compass direction, or that a shrine in an awkward place is less than a shrine. It asks for nothing to be bought: no idol, yantra or crystal is recommended by the texts read for this site.
If your shrine is not in the north-east, which is common, nothing in the classical verses read here describes a consequence. Keep it clean and quiet, face east or north while praying if the room allows, and read remedies without demolition before spending anything. In a flat, a shelf in a calm corner is entirely enough, as apartments and flats explains.
Frequently asked questions
↳ Where should the puja room be in Vastu?
In the north-east, according to the Brihat Samhita (53.118). Acharya's summary of the Manasara puts the family's temple in the central square of a compound instead. Both are classical, and they answer slightly different questions.
↳ Which way should I face when praying?
East or north is the usual modern advice, which means the images face west or south. We could not find it in the verses read for this site, so it is common practice. Facing east is possible in most rooms at no cost.
↳ How high should the puja shelf be?
Modern guides say a little above the floor. The classical point is different: the Brihat Samhita says one should not sleep on a level higher than that of the gods (53.124), so no bed should stand higher than the shrine.
↳ Can the puja room be under a staircase or near a toilet?
Modern guides say not. The rule is about respect for the shrine and is not in the classical verses read here. If there is no other place, a clean, closed cupboard or shelf in a calm part of the home is a dignified answer.
↳ Is a bedroom above the puja room a problem?
The verse says not to sleep on a level higher than the gods (53.124). Whether a room on the floor above is what it meant is not settled by the verse, so the checker shows it as a note. In a flat the home above is not yours to change.
↳ Do I need to buy anything to correct a puja room?
No. Nothing in the classical texts read for this site asks for an object to be bought. Keeping the place clean, quiet and used regularly is what the tradition most consistently asks.