Title: House entrance facing east

General Information about Item:

• Customary Lore, Superstition
• Language: English
• Country of Origin: India
• Informant: Priya Shukla
• Date Collected: 11/12/18

Informant Data:

• Priya Shukla is a ‘21 attending Dartmouth College. She is pre-med, majoring in English. She was born in London but currently lives in Boston, MA. Her parents are both Hindu. Her mother is from Jaipur and her father is from Agra. Both of her parents speak Hindi, and Priya and her younger brother, Chetan can both read and write Hindi.

Contextual Data:

• Cultural Context: According to the Indian Vastu Shastra (the science of architecture per ancient Hindu knowledge systems), the main entrance is one of the most important areas, and the direction the entrance faces dictates a lot about the luck of the owners of the household. A house with its entrance facing east is considered very auspicious, and a house with its entrance facing South West brings in struggles and misfortunes because it is the entry of the devil energy.
• Social Context: Priya learned this superstition from her parents when she was growing up. This is a fairly common indian superstition, and it ties in with other superstitions relating to the household. Priya and another one of our informants told a superstition that says you can not sleep with your feet pointing south, so you have to make sure your bed is facing the right direction.

Item:

• This superstition relies on the belief of the Indian Vastu Shastra.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript: “So, when you’re building a house, you always have to make sure the front entrance points to the east for good luck. I think its because the sun rises in the east.”

Collector’s Comments:

• This is an example of a sign superstition: If you have your door facing a certain direction, then you will have good/bad luck.

Collector’s Name: Marlee Montella

Tags/Keywords:

• Customary Lore
• Superstition
• House