by Patrick McFadzean

This essay by the Rev. J. F. Kearns is an early account of the Indian art of Geomancy called Silpa Sastra which is also known as Vastu Sastra and Vastu Vidya. It first appeared in the Indian Antiquary in August and October 1876, and is therefore contemporary with the first published accounts of the very similar practices of Feng Shui in China from the Rev. M. T. Yates in 1868, Rev. J. Edkins in 1872, and the Rev. E. J. Eitel in 1873.

The Rev. Kearns does not tell us what he made of it; instead he calls for a better translation and proper study of the work he places before us. The contents of this work cover correct choice of site and orientation, harmonious proportion, the Vastu Purusha Mandala, electional astrology, omens, propitiation of spirits and Deities, carpentry, lots of information on trees, details about the construction of implements; the right wood for the measuring rod and the correct fibre for the measuring cord, and other matters. The text is similar to other works from all over India such as the Silpa Pothi.

The world view of Silpa Sastra is holistic and inclusive of other aspects of Indian cultural Knowledge which would have been baffling to most European readers in 1876, In one passage a connection is made between the movement of a closing door and the luck of a house. We read (of the door) that "if it moves like the two pulses vattha and pittha ... disease without end shall dwell in that house". Vattha and Pittha are two of the three doshas or humours (the third is Kappha) recognised in Ayurvedic medicine. A pulse characteristic of the vattha state would be irregular or zigzag, fast and slippery, moving like a leech or a snake, of pittha jumping like a frog or a sparrowhawk. A kappha pulse is steady and slow like a pigeon or swan.

The Rev. Kearns has provided us with a view of Indian Geomancy which assumes the reality of the supernatural and astrology and which in 1876 is still unaffected by attempts to harmonise it with Western physics or Theosophy. Unlike the work of the Rev. Eitel on feng shui the Rev. Kearns work does not seem to have been very noticed. I came across a reference to it in a 1927 work; Dictionary of Hindu Architecture by P. K. Acharya and traced a copy of the 1876 volume in the basement of the Faculty of Oriental Studies at Cambridge University from where I rescued it.

The word Silpa is quite full of meaning. It refers to the art and craft tradition which is an integral part of traditional Indian geomancy and architecture. There is the whole matter of the creative work of the craftsman being inspired from on high as witnessed by the folklore and spiritual practices of many lands. It is not an easy word to define and according to Monier Monier Williams Sanskrit English Dictionary is of uncertain origin. R. N. Misra in an essay on this word (R. N. Misra, "Silpa" in Kalatattva Kosa, edited by Kapila Vatsyaya ) states that it signifies "an extraordinary potential", "a sanctifying principle", "a supportive sustaining and strengthening force", "a skill endowed with a sense of wonder for its creative essence" and "a propensity divine in character which remains sanctified even in its emulation". Unfortunately because of the hands on nature of their work the Silpis became stigmatised and were relegated in the caste system to the sudra varna by about 500 BC - well before the period when the great medieval Temples were built.

I would be interested to hear from anyone involved with Silpa Sastra either as a practioner or researcher or as an observer. I can be contacted at The Institute of Experimental Geomancy at 93 Castle Street, Cambridge CB3 OAH.

Patrick McFadzean.