with Sashikala Ananth January 12-27th, 2001 Intinerary Hotels Sites Intro to Vastu Shastra About Sashikala Ananth Registration and fees Registration Form (PDF)

Kerala is the most exotic part of India's south west coast. Explore bustling markets, cruise romantic backwaters, enjoy Kathakali drama, visit beautiful wild life sanctuaries, ayurvedic medicine centres, amazing temples and palaces. Take the opportunity to relax at beach resorts and stay in luxury hotels.

Be guided by India's most renowned author, architect and Vastu Shastra scholar, Sashikala Ananth. She will be teaching space clearing, principles of Vastu Shastra, measurement and proportion, philosophies of design, and principles and practices of yoga and meditation.

Experience the sights, tastes and pleasures that only India can bring. The Kerala journey is on the 12-27th January, 2001. Book now, as this is the best time to be in India and there is limited accommodation available. All details, articles, registration and fees are on the website or you can fax your address for a coloured brochure to +61 2 9365 7847

Sashikala Ananth is a internationally recognised scholar, author and expert on Vastu Shastra. Roger Green is the Director of several Feng Shui curriculums around the world. This is the third Vastu Shastra study tour he has sponsored. It has been designed as a journey to combine study with local craftsmen, vastu experts, visit temples, learn space clearing rituals, relax in resorts set in the bushlands and beaches of Kerala, and celebrate India's ancient and vibrant culture.

Registration and fees Registration Form (PDF)

Taj Garden Retreat Perched on a hill top 2,700 feet above sea level, In the very heart of India's southern-most state. Ensconced just beyond the parameters of Periyar (a 777 sq. Km. Refuge for a multitude of majestic beasts), is a 3 &1/2 acre rustic estate enveloped amidst a quilt of thick woods. Intermittently dotted with vividly hued foliage, coffee plants, spice bushes and fruit trees, this verdant property is further distinguished by a host of villas firmly rooted high up on 11 foot stilts. A veritable Eden, albeit a slightly untamed one. Or as we call it, The Taj Garden Retreat, Thekkady. Discover Kerala with The Taj. From a rustic jungle lodge in Thekkady to quaint, historic Cochin; from exploring the magical backwaters at charming Kumarakom to the pristine stillness of Varkala - Nobody gives you Kerala quite like The Taj.

Poovar island Resort Poovar Island Resort, Kerala Backwaters. Where time stands still. Unspoiled and miraculously unexplored, Poovar Island is a rear Adam and Eve find in Southern Kerala. Enveloped by the most serene backwaters and opening out to the sea and a dream golden sand beach. Poovar is truly a window into paradise. Time stopped a few decades ago. The tranquility is punctuated by the sound of waves and the birds. The acreage is abundant in well preserved local flora, with hundreds of species of spices, exotic flowers, complete with banana and coconut groves. The sun god smiles generously on idyllic Poovar. There's lots to do in addition to soaking in nature, and the hammocks and the beach. Row to a neighbouring fishing village in 2 minutes. Alter course, and visit a centuries old martial arts village. Kerala is the birthplace of a unique martial art form. Poovar Island Resort is a mix of floating cottages, and conventional accommodation. Floating units are constructed on hollow light weight concrete hulls. They are air conditioned and fully equipped with all modern amenities. Poovar Island Resort is built with a keen eye on not disturbing the local ecology and highlighting local resources. State of the art equipment is dedicated to water and effluent treatment. Poovar Island Resort is self sufficient. All units have air-conditioning, colour TVs with a varied choice of international and Indian channels, and contemporary security devices and systems. There is Western, Asian and Indian Cuisine to choose from, and two bars in addition to service at your hammock! Conference and function facilities range from 10-600. The resort offers a choice of Ayurvedic massage programs to suit your personal needs. Poovar Island Resort is an unforgettable holiday experience.

Bombay - Oberoi Towers Competing for the Taj for pride of place as Bombay's most opulent hotel is the huge and thoroughly modern Oberoi on Marine Drive. The Oberoi offers a range of accommodation including singles and Doubles suites with or without a sea view including the prestigious Kohinoor suite. The adjoining and slightly older Oberoi Towers offers a range of singles and Doubles suites. The enormous atrium at the Oberoi Towers , around which there's a shopping complex on two floors, is beautifully designed and well worth seeing even if you're not staying at the hotel. It's also deliciously cool! Combined, the hotels have a plethora of facilities including two swimming pools, four restaurants, a bar with superb views over the bay and dancing every evening from 6.30 pm, as well as a disco.

Elephanta Caves - Bombay
An hours boat ride from Colaba, the tranquil, forested island of Elephanta is one of the most atmospheric places in Bombay. Populated only by a small fishing community, it makes a wonderful contrast to the seething claustrophobia of the city, even when crowded with day-trippers at weekends. Originally known as Gharapuri, the "city of Chara priests", the island was renamed in the sixteenth century by the Portuguese in honour of the carved elephant they found at the port. It's chief attraction is its unique Cave temple, whose massive Trimurti Shiva sculpture is as fine an example of Hindu architecture as you'll find anywhere.

Elephanta's impressive excavated cave (eighth century), covering an area of approximately 5000 square metres, is reached by climbing more than one hundred steps to the tope of the hill. Inside, the massive columns, carved from solid rock. Give the deceptive impression of being structural.

Following an unwritten law, few buildings whether houses or temples are higher than the surrounding trees; creating a miraculous illusion that you're surrounded by forest.

The God Parashurama Rama with the battle axe "The sixth incarnation of Vishnu, is credited with creating Kerala.

Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) - Beaches is Kerala's capital. Set in seven low hills is an easy going city with an attractive mixture of narrow back streets, traditional red-tiled gabled houses and acres of palm trees and parks breaking up the bustle of its modern concrete centre. This cities historical and spiritual heart is the Fort area housing the Shri Padmanashaswamy Temple still owned by the Travancare Royal family. This temple you can watch students doing kalarippayat fighting exercises or have an consultation with expert ayurvedic doctors and have a traditional ayurvedic massage.

Periyar lives at cool altitudes (750 - 1500m) just over 100km east of Kottayam, and centres on a vast artificial lake, created by the British in 1895 to supply water to the drier parts of neighbouring Tamil Nadu, around Madurai. The Royal family of Travancore, anxious to preserve favourite hunting grounds from the encroachment of tea plantations, declared it to be a Forest Reserve, and built the Edapalayam Lake Palace to accommodate their guests in 1899.

Kochi and Ernakulam
Kerala's prime tourist destination spreads across islands and promontories in a stunning location between the Arabian Sea and backwaters. Its main sections, modern Ernakulan and old districts of Maltancherry and Fort Cochin are linked by a complex system of ferries and bridges. The old section in the focus of interest where the city's extraordinary history of foreign influence and settlement is reflected in an assortment of architectural styles. During a wander through these narrow lanes, you'll observe spice markets, Chinese fishing nets, a synagogue, Portuguese Palace, India's first European Church, Dutch homes and a village green that could have been transported from England.

At any time of the year you can see Kathakali Dance performed by a temple based company. This is a martial art influenced dance drama which has for 4 centuries brought gods and demons from the Mahabharata and Ramayana to Keralan villages. The dance incorporates elements of yoga and ayurvedic medicine. All the props are fashioned from natural materials - powdered minerals and sap from certain trees.

Kochi sprang into being in 1341, when a flood created a natural safe port. The Royal family transferred here from Muzires in 1405 and the city grew rapidly attracting Christian, Arab and Jewish settlers from the Middle East. In the early 1500's the British, Dutch and Portuguese competed for the lucrative spice trade.

Thrissur is the place to explore the cultural riches of Kerala. It presided over the main trade route into the region from Tamil Aadu and Karnataka and was the capital of Kochin State for years. The town centres on Kerala's largest temple complex, Vadakkunatha surrounded by a green maiden. This is the site of Kerala's most extravagant, noisy and sumptuous festival, Puram. The Vadakkunatha temple (closed to non-Hindus) is a walled complex of fifteen shrines, dating from the twelfth century and earlier, the principal of which is dedicated to Shiva.

Chottanikkara Temple
Numerous stories attest to the early history of this 10th century temple, where tormented devotees found solace in the deity, Bhagavati. Today, it remains one of the most popular pilgrim sites in Kerala, devotees still flock here seeking liberation from torment. Sometimes they dance themselves into a frenzy in their battle between the demons and the deities.

Bolghatty Palace A renovated Palace in beautiful location, a short hop by ferry from the High Court Jetty, Ernakulum. Huge rooms in the main building, built by the Dutch in 1744 and later home of the British Resident. Padmanabhapuram Palace Padmanabhapuram Palace, in Tamil Nadu, is 65km south-eat of Thiruvananthapuram. It was once the seat of the rulers of Travamcore, a princely state for more than 400 years, which included a large part of present day southern Kerala and the western coast of Tamil Nadu. The Palace is an excellent example of Keralan architecture, superbly constructed of local teak and granite, standing within massive stone town walls. Dating from the 16th century, it is reputedly the largest wooden palace in India with 127 rooms, many intricately carved in teak and the wood of the jackfruit tree.

Vastu philosophy and architecture states that everything is fundamentally 'shabda' or sound, which is the basic pulse of energy, which is then differentiated like light is by a prism. This spectrum is woven by the contrast of sound and silence, light and darkness, space and form, and magical mathematical proportions.

The word vastu means the ultimate particle in the Universe. It is the origin of creativity and exists as the infinite unchanging. Brahma or primal energy is an integral aspect of this principle. Shilpi is the name of the temple designer and sculptor. They studied the ancient shastras (classical writings) combining technology, metallurgy, fine arts, rituals, dance, music, philosophy, astrology, self awareness and bhakti (devotion to the Divine) to create masterpieces, that would defy time.

Vastu Purusha Mandala signifies the consciousness that dwells on Earth, and is used as a design grid to give order, harmony, and symbolism.

According to Indian manuals on architecture and town planning, the Vastu Shastras, some of which are over 2000 years old, state how a dwelling and city had to function as a mandala, or sacred diagram. Mandalas were governed by the precise dimensions and proportions, repeating in miniature form the mathematical scheme of the cosmos. Zones within the mandala represented different levels of the universe, and were identified with particular symbology. Vastu philosophy states that everything is fundamentally 'shabda' or sound, which is the basic pulse of energy which is then woven into design. Vastu Shastra (Indian Feng Shui) provides extensive knowledge about design principles following the laws of the universe. Collectively, these underlying rthymns are sympathic to human needs, enhance good health and prosperity, are known to radiate positive energy, and represent ecologically sustainable environments.

Vastu philosophy and architecture states that everything is fundamentally 'shabda', or sound, which is the basic pulse of energy which is differentiated, as light by a prism. This spectrum is played and woven - by the contrasts of sound and silence, light and darkness, space and form. When being close and feeling these sacred buildings in India, one experiences the angels playing with the basic vibrations of the world, you hear the ancient sounds from long ago, you remember a collective metaphysical understanding between person, soul and place. Vastu Shastra (Indian Feng Shui) provides extensive knowledge about design principles following the laws of the universe. It uses natural energies, natural materials, appropriate orientation, function, proportion and appearance, climate control and energy conservation. Collectively, these underlying principles create structures that are sympathetic to human needs, enhance good health and prosperity, are known to radiate positive energy, and represent ecologically sustainable environments.

When viewed this way, buildings are not merely a lifeless pile of timber, stone, bricks and mortar but are, in fact, living organisms that actively respond to nature's daily rhythms and seasonal cycles. They are the end result of a happy blend of science and spirituality, of thoughts and intuition.

As early as the 7th century the Syrian astronomer Severus Sebokht knew of the greatness of Indian astronomy and mathematics. The 17th century observatory at Jaipur that we are visiting - with its wonderfully accurate instruments constructed on a enormous scale to minimise errors, may well have had their ancient counterparts. All ancient texts, including the Chinese texts of Lao Tzu and the I Ching, speak of the ancients and the glory of their civilisation.

Sashikala Ananth is a internationally recognised scholar, author and expert on Vastu Shastra. Roger Green is the Director of several Feng Shui curriculums around the world. This is the third Vastu Shastra study tour he has sponsored. It has been designed as a journey to combine study with local craftsmen, vastu experts, visit temples, learn space clearing rituals, relax in resorts set in the bushlands and beaches of Kerala, and celebrate India's ancient and vibrant culture.

Kerala is the most beautiful part of India's south west coast. Explore bustling markets, cruise romantic backwaters, enjoy Kathakali drama, trek through jungles, chill out in a beach resort. Visit wild life sanctuaries, ayurvedic centres, amazing temples and palaces, and be guided by some of India's top scholars in Vastu Shastra. January is the best month to be travelling in India.

Sashikala holds a degree in Architecture and has spent the last 20 years assimilating traditional knowledge on indigenous materials, vernacular building styles, and the study and application of the ancient texts of Vastu Shastra (Indian Feng Shui). She has also written the script for an award winning film in 1991 called 'The Living Tradition'. Sashikala was one of the most popular teachers with the Vastu Shastra study tour in 1998 and 1999.

She will be teaching in London on November 24-27 and New York December 1-4, 2000.

Topics will include the ancient methods of 'Vastu Shastra Space Clearing' and a astrological system of proportional measurements that are used in traditional design principles.

She will be the principle teacher on the next Indian Study tour in January 2001.
Her Kerala lectures will focus on the folowing topics:

1. Vaastu a historical and social perspective. The books on Vaastu and their contents field application in existence and the qualities of the designer.

2. Overview of Vedanta philosophy and the basis of Yoga and Ayurveda. The connection between these fields and that of Vaastu.

3. Fine Arts such as music, dance, sculpture and their experiential base. Religious practice, Sacred prencincts, worship methodology, mystic and occult practices and their connection with the built space.

4. Building design process, building types, shapes and colours, Ayadi or sacred measure computation, Chikitsa Vaastu or healing space, benefits of Vaastu.

More articles on Vastu Shastra by Sashikala Ananth

Kerala- Indian Vastu Shastra Study tour with Roger Green and Sashikala Ananth
January 12th- 27th, 2001

Fax this form to: 61 2 9365 7847
Or email this form to: rogergreen@fengshuiseminars.com

Book your return flight to Bombay EARLY- South India in January is the most popular time!
Fee: US $2620 based on twin share
Single room supplement: US $547
Includes all internal flights from Bombay - Cochin and from Thrivandrum to Bombay
Accommodation at luxury hotels and resorts
Breakfast and lunch included everyday
Air condition coach from Cochin to Periyar and to Thrivandrum
Site entrance and tour guide fees as stated on itinerary
Boat cruise fees as stated on itinerary
All airport transfers
All tuition fees
Workbooks and seminar material provided (extensive materials on Vastu Shastra)
Extra nights before and after tour can be arranged in Bombay

Please fill out this preliminary registration form below and fax to our office
fax: 61 2 9365 7847
To secure your place, a deposit of US$500 is required and can be paid by credit card.
The remaining fees are done by bank transfer.

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To secure your place on the study tour a $US 500 deposit (or local currency equilavent) is required by 15th November.

Payment Details:
The deposit can be paid by credit card.
The remainder by check or bank transfer.
Full payment by 15 December

If paying by cheque: English & American cheques are acceptable:
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Name of Account: Feng Shui Design International
Name of Bank: The Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Branch: Rose Bay, Sydney.
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Branch no. 236
Account no. 1004 1086
Sort number (all of the above) 062 236 1004 1086

Post your registration form to:
Roger Green and Victoria Phillips
Feng Shui Design International
PO BOX 7788, Bondi Beach Sydney NSW 2026 Australia
PHONE 61 29365 7877
FAX 61 2 9365 7847
email: rogergreen@fengshuiseminars.com or victoria@fengshuiseminars.com

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