The following are some superstitious beliefs and customs about
houses. A house should face north or east and not south or west, as the
south is the region of Yama, the god of death, who lives in Ceylon,
and the west the quarter of the setting sun. A Muhammadan's house,
on the other hand, should face south or west because Mecca lies to
the south-west. A house may have verandas front and back, or on the
front and two sides, but not on all four sides. The front of a house
should be lower than the back, this shape being known as _gai-mukh_
or cow-mouthed, and not higher than the back, which is _singh-mukh_
or tiger-mouthed. The front and back doors should not be in a straight
line, which would enable one to look right through the house. The
_angan_ or compound of a house should be a little longer than it is
wide, no matter how little. Conversely the building itself should be a
little wider along the front than it is long from front to rear. The
kitchen should always be on the right side if there is a veranda, or
else behind. When an astrologer is about to found a house he calculates
the direction in which Shesh Nag, the snake on whom the world reposes,
is holding his head at that time, and plants the first brick or stone
to the left of that direction, because snakes and elephants do not turn
to the left but always to the right. Consequently the house will be
more secure and less likely to be shaken down by Shesh Nag's movements,
which cause the phenomenon known to us as an earthquake. Below the
foundation-stone or brick are buried a pice, an areca-nut and a
grain of rice, and it is lucky if the stone be laid by a man who
has been faithful to his wife. There should be no echo in a house,
as an echo is considered to be the voice of evil spirits. The main
beam should be placed in position on a lucky day, and the carpenter
breaks a cocoanut against it and receives a present. The width of the
rooms along the front of a house should be five cubits each, and if
there is a staircase it must have an uneven number of steps. The door
should be low so that a man must bend his head on entering and thus
show respect to the household god. The floor of the verandas should be
lower than that of the room inside; the Hindus say that the compound
should not see the veranda nor the veranda the house. But this rule
has of course also the advantage of keeping the house-floor dry. If
the main beam of a house breaks it is a very bad omen, as also for
a vulture or kite to perch on the roof; if this should happen seven
days running the house will inevitably be left empty by sickness or
other misfortune. A dog howling in front of the house is very unlucky,
and if, as may occasionally happen, a dog should get on to the roof
of the house and bark, the omen is of the worst kind. Neither the
pipal nor banyan trees should be planted in the yard of a house,
because the leavings of food might fall upon them, and this would
be an insult to the deities who inhabit the sacred trees. Neither
is it well to plant the _nim_ tree, because the _nim_ is the tree
of anchorites, and the frequent contemplation of it will take away
from a man the desire of offspring and lead to the extinction of his
family. Bananas should not be grown close to the house, because the
sound of this fruit bursting the pod is said to be audible, and to
hear it is most unlucky. It is a good thing to have a _gular_ [75]
tree in the yard, but at a little distance from the house so that
the leavings of food may not fall upon it; this is the tree of the
saint Dattatreya, and will cause wealth to increase in the house. A
plant of the sacred _tulsi_ or basil is usually kept in the yard,
and every morning the householder pours a vessel of water over it
as he bathes, and in the evening places a lamp beside it. This holy
plant sanctifies the air which passes over it to the house.
No one should ever sit on the threshold of a house; this is the seat
of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, and to sit on it is disrespectful
to her. A house should never be swept at twilight, because it is then
that Lakshmi makes her rounds, and she would curse it and pass by. At
this time a lamp should be lighted, no one should be allowed to sleep,
and even if a man is sick he should sit up on his bed. At this time the
grinding-mill should not be turned nor grain be husked, but reverence
should be paid to ancestors and to the household deities. No one
must sit on the grinding-mill; it is regarded as a mother because
it gives out the flour by which the family is fed. No one must sit
on cowdung cakes because they are the seat of Saturn, the Evil One,
and their smell is called _Sanichar ke bas_. No one must step on the
_chulka_ or cooking-hearth nor jar it with his foot. At the midday
meal, when food is freshly cooked, each man will take a little fire
from the hearth and place it in front of him, and will throw a little
of everything he eats on to the fire, and some _ghi_ as an offering
to Agni, the god of fire. And he will also walk round the hearth,
taking water in his hand and then throwing it on the ground as an
offering to Agni. A man should not sleep with his feet to the south,
because a corpse is always laid in that direction. He should not
sleep with his feet to the east, nor spit out water from his mouth
in the direction of the east.