ABSTRACT
M. Khana, Yantra: the tantric symbol of cosmic unity As we have just seen, whether traditional or modern, there is consistency in domestic architecture across the variety of houses built over a number of decades. Kholagaun Chhetri houses have the principal characteristics of the yantric mode of the mandala spatiality: they are four-sided polygons that create and enclose an earthly space and sacralize it; they are aligned with Hindu sacred geography, chiefly through orienting the main entrance to the southern quadrant and the worship room to the northern quadrant according to vastu rules; and there is a materially or ritually established central pillar. These features are indicative of an abiding concern with the spatial auspiciousness of houses as a condition for wellbeing and prosperity. In this sense, domestic architecture is a template for a favourable compatibility between person, action and place in a house, that is, between: the house owner (ghar dhani) and his household group (pariwar); the purposes and characters of domestic activities; and their locations within domestic space whose natures are imbued with the character of the cardinal directions and the reigning deities towards which they are aligned. I now turn to explaining how, in the process of construction, Kholagaun Chhetris configure their houses as a yantra and build such spatial auspiciousness into them.
