Main Entrance Vastu: How to Calculate Which of the 32 Entrance Padas Your Door Is In

In Vastu, the main door is placed by dividing each outer wall into equal parts called padas. There are 8 per wall and 32 around the house, each named after a deity of the Vastu Purusha Mandala. To find your door's pada, measure the wall from the right corner, divide it by 8 and see which part the opening falls in. Below: the method, two worked examples, the 32 names from the classical texts, and the padas those texts favour.

About this guide: Vastu Shastra is a traditional Indian system of design. The pada names and door positions below come from translations of the Manasara and the Brihat Samhita, read in the editions listed under Sources. There is no scientific evidence for the results the texts attach to door positions; people follow them as tradition. Practitioners differ on several points, and we say where.

New to Vastu? Start with our practical guide to Vastu for a new home.

What the 32 padas are

The Vastu Purusha Mandala is a square grid laid over a site, most often 9 by 9 squares in the texts. Brahma takes the nine squares in the centre (the Brahmasthan). The ring of squares around the edge is shared by 32 deities, 8 to a side. Stella Kramrisch, in her 1946 study The Hindu Temple, describes the border as subdivided into 32 positions, "four times eight", each held by a divinity she calls a Padadevata (pp. 31 to 32).

The 8 on each side are counted clockwise from a corner: E1 to E8 from the north-east corner going south, S1 to S8 from the south-east going west, W1 to W8 from the south-west going north, and N1 to N8 from the north-west going east.

The diagram shows all 32. Names follow the Brihat Samhita of Varahamihira, in N. Chidambaram Iyer's 1884 translation of its chapter on house-building (verses 43 to 45) and Kramrisch's figure of the mandala (p. 32).

Square house plan with north at the top. Each of the four walls is divided into eight equal padas, numbered clockwise E1 to E8, S1 to S8, W1 to W8 and N1 to N8, each labelled with its deity name. The fourth pada on each wall is highlighted, with a faint nine-zone grid inside the plan. — The 32 entrance padas, eight per wall, counted clockwise from each corner, with the main-door padas the texts name. Diagram: MOA

The 32 names, and where the Manasara differs

The Manasara, in P.K. Acharya's 1934 translation (chapter VII, lines 127 to 154), places the same ring with a few differences. It puts Isa in the north-east corner, where the Brihat Samhita has Agni, and Agni in the south-east, where the Brihat Samhita has Vayu. Kramrisch notes the same shift: the Brihat Samhita places Agni in the north-east, while most later texts give that corner to Isana (p. 91).

Pada	Brihat Samhita	Manasara
E1 to E8	Agni, Parjanya, Jayanta, Indra, Surya, Satya, Bhrisha, Antariksha	Isa, Parjanya, Jayanta, Mahendra, Aditya, Satya, Bhrisa, Antariksha
S1 to S8	Vayu, Pusha, Vitatha, Brihatkshata, Yama, Gandharva, Bhringaraja, Mriga	Agni, Pushan, Vitatha, Grihakshata, Yama, Gandharva, Bhringaraja, Mrisa
W1 to W8	Pitri, Dauvarika, Sugriva, Kusumadanta, Varuna, Asura, Shosha, Papayakshma	Pitri, Dauvarika, Sugriva, Pushpadanta, Varuna, Asura, Sosha, Roga
N1 to N8	Roga, Ahi, Mukhya, Bhallata, Soma, Bhujaga, Aditi, Diti	Marut (Vayu), Naga, Mukhya, Bhallata, Soma, Mriga, Aditi, Udita

Several are synonyms, such as Indra and Mahendra, or Kusumadanta and Pushpadanta. The E1 to N8 numbering modern practitioners use follows the Brihat Samhita order.

How to calculate your door's pada, step by step

Find north. Take a compass reading away from steel gates, cars and electrical panels. Magnetic and true north differ by the magnetic declination, which is small in India: the NOAA calculator (World Magnetic Model 2025) gives about +1.3° for Delhi, 0.0° for Mumbai, −0.3° for Kolkata and −1.1° for Bengaluru and Chennai on 16 October 2026. That does not change which wall is which.
Name each wall by the direction it faces outward. If your house is turned close to 45° off the compass, a wall sits between two directions and practitioners differ on how to apply the grid. Get advice in that case.
Measure the full length of the wall. Measure the outer face, corner to corner. Decide whether you are checking the house (for the main door) or the plot boundary (for the compound gate), and measure that line.
Divide by 8. On a 36 ft wall, each pada is 36 ÷ 8 = 4.5 ft. On a 30 ft wall, it is 3.75 ft.
Measure the door from the starting corner (north-east for the east wall, south-east for south, south-west for west, north-west for north). Note where the opening starts and ends.
Read off the pada. Divide each distance by the pada width and round up. A door from 14 ft to 17.5 ft on a 4.5 ft pada starts in pada 4 (14 ÷ 4.5 = 3.1) and ends in pada 4 (17.5 ÷ 4.5 = 3.9).

Two plans with north at the top. Left: an east-facing house whose 36 ft east wall is divided into eight 4.5 ft padas, with a 3.5 ft door from 14 to 17.5 ft falling wholly in E4, Indra, and a nine-part strip beside it where the same door spans E4 and E5. Right: a north-facing house whose 30 ft north wall is divided into eight 3.75 ft padas, with a door from 12 to 15.5 ft falling mostly in N4, Bhallata. — Two worked examples: an east-facing and a north-facing house, with the arithmetic for each door. Diagram: MOA

Worked example 1: an east-facing house

The east wall measures 36 ft from the north-east corner to the south-east corner. Each pada is 4.5 ft, so E4 (Indra) runs from 13.5 ft to 18 ft. The 3.5 ft door opening runs from 14 ft to 17.5 ft from the north-east corner, so the whole door is in E4.

Worked example 2: a north-facing house

The north wall measures 30 ft from the north-west corner to the north-east corner. Each pada is 3.75 ft, so N4 (Bhallata) runs from 11.25 ft to 15 ft and N5 (Soma) from 15 ft to 18.75 ft. The door's opening runs from 12 ft to 15.5 ft. So 3 ft of the door is in N4 and 0.5 ft is in N5. Practitioners read a door that straddles two padas differently: by its centre, by the larger share, or only as acceptable if the whole opening sits in one pada.

Eight equal parts or nine?

In the 81-square grid of the texts, each wall has nine equal squares: the 8 padas of that side plus the corner square that starts the next side. The common modern method divides each wall into eight equal parts instead, and the boundaries differ. On the 36 ft wall in example 1, the 9-part grid makes each square 4 ft, so E4 runs from 12 ft to 16 ft, and the same door spans E4 and E5. Use the method your practitioner uses, and check both if your door sits near a line.

Which padas the texts favour for a main door

The two classical texts agree on one point, and differ on the rest.

The Manasara: one main-door pada per side

In its chapter on doorways (chapter XXXVIII, lines 15 to 30), the Manasara names one place for the large door on each side of a house: Mahendra on the east, Grihakshata on the south, Pushpadanta on the west and Bhallata on the north. In the grid the same text lays out in chapter VII, each of these is the fourth square from the corner, counted clockwise. In the E1 to N8 numbering, that is E4, S4, W4 and N4. Smaller doors are allowed in other padas, mostly near the corners, and a house door is set just off the centre line, as these fourth padas are.

So the Manasara does not rule out a south entrance. It says where on the south wall to put one.

The Brihat Samhita: a result for every pada

In verses 71 to 75 of its house-building chapter, the Brihat Samhita lists a result for a main entrance in each of the 32 padas. It describes these favourably:

East: E3 (Jayanta) and E4 (Indra)
South: S4 (Brihatkshata), with a mixed result
West: W4 (Kusumadanta) and W5 (Varuna)
North: N3 (Mukhya), N4 (Bhallata) and N5 (Soma)

It gives unfavourable or mixed results for the rest, and none of the four corner padas is among the favoured ones. So the fourth pada on each side is the one both texts point to. Modern practitioners publish their own lists for all 32, and those lists do not always match each other or the texts.

Verse 76 also advises against a door directly facing a road, a tree, a well, a post or a drain, unless it is more than twice the house's height away. There is no scientific evidence for the outcomes the text attaches to any of these.

Make the entrance work as an entrance

Whatever pada you choose, give the door a covered landing so rain stays off the threshold and room to swing clear of walls and stairs. For accessibility, the Government of India's harmonised guidelines on barrier-free buildings ask for a clear entrance door width of at least 900 mm, preferably 1 m, and a level landing of at least 1,800 mm by 1,800 mm at the entrance (as summarised by Assam's Social Welfare Department). They are written for public buildings, but are a sensible benchmark for a home with elderly parents.

This farmhouse design by Teja Boga on MOA shows a door set in the middle of its front wall under a deep concrete frame. It is shown for the entrance design, not as a Vastu example.

Design render of a single-storey farmhouse front with a deep exposed-concrete portal framing a large timber double door with a circular inlay, steps up to the door, brick-clad walls and clerestory glazing under sloping roofs on either side. — Design render: a main door centred in the front wall under a deep concrete frame, from Team G Farm House in Hyderabad. Image: Teja Boga on MOA

What you can and cannot change in a flat

In an apartment the main door is fixed by the building's plan, and moving it usually needs the society's permission and a structural check. Practitioners also differ on whether the 32 padas apply to the flat's outline or the whole building.

Before you buy, check the door's pada on the flat's plan, using the outer walls of the flat and a compass reading on site.
After you move in, you can change the door leaf, its finish and the threshold, and keep the entrance clear and well lit.

On a plot, the door is easiest to place before the plan is fixed. Our guide to what you can build on a small plot shows how setbacks shape the walls you will be dividing, and the plot due-diligence checklist covers the road side and access. For how Vastu claims hold up against science, see the science behind modern Vastu Shastra.

FAQ

How do I calculate the 32 entrance padas for my house?

Measure each outer wall corner to corner and divide by 8. Count clockwise: E1 from the north-east corner, S1 from the south-east, W1 from the south-west and N1 from the north-west. Then measure the door opening from that corner.

Which is the best main door position for an east-facing house?

The Manasara names Mahendra, the fourth pada from the north-east corner (E4), for the main door on the east. The Brihat Samhita also describes E3 (Jayanta) and E4 favourably.

Is a south main door bad in Vastu?

Not according to the Manasara, which names Grihakshata, the fourth pada from the south-east corner (S4), for the large door on the south. The Brihat Samhita gives that pada a mixed result and the other south padas unfavourable ones. Practitioners differ on south doors.

Planning a new home or checking a plan before you buy? Find an architect on MOA or an interior designer on MOA who can plan the entrance with Vastu in mind.

Sources

P.K. Acharya (trans.), Architecture of Manasara, vol. IV (Oxford University Press, 1934), via Internet Archive: ch. VII, ll. 127 to 154 (pp. 42 to 43); ch. XXXVIII, ll. 15 to 54 (pp. 410 to 413) (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
N. Chidambaram Iyer (trans.), The Brihat Samhita of Varaha Mihira (1884), via Internet Archive: ch. VI (53), On House-building, vv. 43 to 45 and 71 to 76 (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
Stella Kramrisch, The Hindu Temple, vol. 1 (University of Calcutta, 1946), via Internet Archive: pp. 31 to 32 and 91 (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information: Magnetic Field Calculators (World Magnetic Model 2025) (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
Social Welfare Department, Government of Assam: Overview of the Harmonised Guidelines and Space Standards for Barrier Free Built Environment (accessed 16 Oct 2026)