The origin of vaastushastra may have taken place well over thousands of years ago. The learned men of those days may not have lived in houses themselves but they most definitely dedicated their lives to the development of the science "vaastushastra" or "vaastu", as it is popularly known today.  


The principles of the science laid down during those days were based purely on the effect of sunrays during different times of the day. The observations and corrections made were noted and concluded only after indepth screening of the situation.  


Proofs of vaastushastra can be found during the time of Ramayan and Mahabharat. Even in the cities of Mohanjodaro and Harappa the application of vaastushastra can be seen.  


Since the science goes far back to the times of Lord Rama and Lord Krishna there are many interesting mythological stories concering the origin of Vaastupurush (the deity).

One such story :  
Lord Shiva had killed a devil named Andhak after a long war which had  continued for years. A spirit originated out of the perspiration of Lord  Shiva and consumed all the blood from the body of the devil. His hunger was still not satisfied. He then undertook penance. Lord Shiva was  impressed and highly satisfied by his penance and offered him a boon. The  spirit then went wild and started eating men and animals. This terrified  even the Gods in heaven. 81 Gods including Lord Bramha laid the spirit  face down and they then sat on different parts of its body. When the  spirit asked for forgiveness Lord Brahma offered him a boon: "After  building any structure, the people who offer you prayers and worship you  as vaastudevta will be blessed with pleasures and prosperity. However only  those people, who do not offer you prayers shall be at your mercy and you  may trouble them in any way".  There is a possibility that these stories were added in the olden scripts  only to scare people and make them conscious about the subject.  The science of vaastushastra is however no mythological story and has  stood the test of time for thousands of years.  



vrindavanapartments.com/origin.html

gr8 post

can anyone suggest me a good book on vastu shastra?
where can I find one? I stay in mumbai

I bought this & its quite detailed with many possible layout for houses, its around 300 pages.

Vasthu Sastra Guide by T.Selva  Rs 450/-
ISBN No. 983-41341-2-6


www.vasthuweb.com

Hope this helps.