Does Vastu work in Guyana?
Yes. Vastu Shastra is organised around directions, which are the same in Guyana as in India, so its guidance applies to a house in Berbice as much as to one in Bihar. About 40% of Guyanese are of East Indian descent and about a quarter are Hindu (2012 census). Two things matter here: the compass, which points about 17° west of true north, a gap large enough to move rooms into the wrong zone; and the way many Guyanese houses are built, raised on posts over an open bottom house, which the classical texts never described.
Raised houses and the bottom house
Much of Guyana's coast lies below the level of high tide, protected by the sea wall and drainage canals, and many houses are raised on posts with an open space beneath them, the bottom house. Classical Vastu has no rule for a house on posts, so VastuIQ reads it the practical way: the floor your family lives on is the home whose outline, centre and main door are checked, and the open bottom house beneath counts as outdoor space. If the bottom house has been enclosed for rooms, a shop or a garage, upload it as its own floor and each room is scored by its direction.
The outside steps up to a raised house usually lead to its main entrance, so the door at the top of the steps is the main door that is checked, with its exact position (pada) on its wall.
What 17° does to a Vastu reading
A phone compass points to magnetic north, and so does any north arrow drawn from a compass reading on site. In Georgetown that is about 17.1° west of true north, the direction the classical texts mean. Each of the eight Vastu zones is 45° wide, so a reading near the edge of a zone lands in the wrong one. Four examples:
| Compass reads | Zone by compass | True direction | True zone |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31° | North-East | 14° | North |
| 121° | South-East | 104° | East |
| 211° | South-West | 194° | South |
| 301° | North-West | 284° | West |
So a kitchen your compass puts in the south-east may truly stand in the east, and a door your compass reads as north-east may really face north. VastuIQ corrects every reading for your town before anything is scored, using the World Magnetic Model.
Guyanese homes, read correctly
The report uses the names on your plan and reads them the way a home here is built:
The floor your family lives on is checked as the home. An open bottom house is read as outdoor space; if it is enclosed and used as rooms, upload it as its own floor.
Read as outdoor areas: on the confirm screen, choose Outdoor area for a gallery. Traditionally best: North, North-East or East.
Read as a prayer space. Traditionally best: North-East (Ishanya), traditionally the most sacred zone.
Read by its own direction. Traditionally best for cooking: South-East, the zone traditionally linked with Agni (fire). North-West is the usual second choice.
The master bedroom is read as the main bedroom and the others as bedrooms, on the floor where they are. The classical place for the master bedroom: South-West, traditionally the zone of earth and stability, for the head of the household.
Read as a staircase. Traditionally best: South, South-West or West. A staircase in the centre or north-east is traditionally discouraged; stairs are rarely moved, so the fixes below are the practical route.
The sun near the equator in Guyana
Georgetown lies less than 7° north of the equator, so the midday sun is high all year. In June it stands about 73° above the horizon, on the north side of the sky, and in December about 60°, to the south. It is on the north side for about 152 days a year, and daylight changes by less than an hour between the shortest and the longest day.
VastuIQ keeps the classical directions, because Guyana is north of the equator, and shows the sun facts for your address beside the Vastu reading. On the coast the west-facing rooms take the hottest afternoon sun and the north-east trade winds bring the breeze, so an open, airy north and east, which classical Vastu also asks for, suits a Guyanese house.
Building in Guyana while living abroad
If you live in New York, Toronto or London and are building or buying a house in Guyana, Vastu is easiest to follow at the drawing stage. Upload the architect's plan of each floor, choose the town where the house stands (its compass correction is applied for you) and confirm the rooms. The free score takes a few minutes, so you can compare layouts before building starts and share the result with family and the contractor at home.
For the home you live in abroad, use the page for that country: the USA, Canada or the UK.
New to Vastu? What it is, in brief
Vastu Shastra is a traditional Indian system of architecture and home layout, set out in Sanskrit texts such as the Mayamata and the Manasara. It divides a home into eight directional zones around its centre and suggests which rooms and activities suit which zone. Many Indian families use it when they buy, build or arrange a home, and so do people of other backgrounds who are curious about how a home is laid out.
Kept the lightest and least cluttered part of the home; a good place for prayer or quiet.
The zone traditionally linked with Agni, fire, so it is the classical place for cooking.
Linked with weight and stability; tradition places the main bedroom and heavy storage here.
It is a cultural tradition, not a science, and it does not promise outcomes. VastuIQ shows what the classical texts recommend, measured accurately for your home and your city, and you decide what to do with it. Most of the report's fixes need no building work: they are about how rooms are used and arranged.
Compass vs true north in Guyana
Across Guyana's coast a compass points about 17° west of true north, from Anna Regina to Corriverton. Your score uses the exact figure for your own town.
| City | Compass vs true north | Daylight, mid-winter to mid-summer |
|---|---|---|
| Anna Regina, Pomeroon-Supenaam | 16.9° west | 11.7 – 12.5 h |
| Tuschen, Essequibo Islands-West Demerara | 17.0° west | 11.7 – 12.5 h |
| Vreed-en-Hoop, Essequibo Islands-West Demerara | 17.0° west | 11.7 – 12.5 h |
| Georgetown, Demerara-Mahaica | 17.1° west | 11.7 – 12.5 h |
| Bartica, Cuyuni-Mazaruni | 16.9° west | 11.8 – 12.5 h |
| Linden, Upper Demerara-Berbice | 17.1° west | 11.8 – 12.5 h |
| Rosignol, Mahaica-Berbice | 17.3° west | 11.8 – 12.5 h |
| New Amsterdam, East Berbice-Corentyne | 17.3° west | 11.8 – 12.5 h |
| Rose Hall, East Berbice-Corentyne | 17.3° west | 11.8 – 12.5 h |
| Corriverton, East Berbice-Corentyne | 17.4° west | 11.8 – 12.5 h |
| Skeldon, East Berbice-Corentyne | 17.5° west | 11.8 – 12.5 h |
Calculated for 2026 with the World Magnetic Model WMM-2025 (NOAA / British Geological Survey) and NOAA solar equations. "East" means a compass points to the east of true north.
Check one home, or compare your shortlist
- Score out of 100 and its band
- Your top three issues
- True north correction for your city
- Every room scored, with no-cost and low-cost fixes
- Your floor plans with the zones at true north
- Centre, front door and pada
- Action plan, 90-day plan and checklist
- Two or three homes side by side
- Which home fits Vastu best, and why
- Plus the full report for the home you choose
Prices are charged in US dollars and your bank converts them; local amounts are a guide.
Vastu in Guyana: questions people ask
Does Vastu work in Guyana?
Vastu Shastra is organised around directions, which are the same in Guyana as in India, so its room-by-direction guidance can be applied to a Guyanese house. What matters is correcting the compass for your town and reading raised houses and bottom houses properly. Vastu is a tradition; it does not promise outcomes.
How far off is a compass in Georgetown or Berbice?
About 17° west in Georgetown, 17° west in New Amsterdam, 17° west in Corriverton, 17° west in Linden and 17° west in Anna Regina (World Magnetic Model). The classical directions are true directions, so every phone or plan reading in Guyana needs about 17° taken off before a room is placed in its zone. VastuIQ does that for you as soon as you choose your town.
How does Vastu treat a house on posts?
The classical texts do not describe raised houses. VastuIQ checks the floor your family lives on as the home, reads an open bottom house as outdoor space, and scores an enclosed bottom house as its own floor, room by room.
Where should the front steps of a raised house lead?
The door the steps lead to is the main door that is checked, with its exact position (pada) on its wall. Tradition favours main doors on the north and east sides, and the report shows how your door's position reads and which no-cost fixes apply if it falls in a weaker pada.
Can I check a house I am building from abroad?
Yes. Upload the drawing, choose the town in Guyana where the house stands, and the compass correction for that town is applied. To compare two or three layouts or houses, use Compare 2–3 homes: the comparison is free, and Home Buyer Compare (US$79, about G$16,527) adds a PDF that ranks them and includes the full report for the one you choose.
The midday sun is in the north part of the year here. Does Vastu change?
Guyana is north of the equator, so VastuIQ keeps the classical directions. The midday sun is on the north side of the sky for about 152 days a year in Georgetown; the report shows this as a measured sun fact beside the Vastu reading, not as a Vastu rule.
Vastu for homes in other countries
Written by Manoj Jangra, founder of VastuIQ. Last updated 20 October 2026.
Vastu Shastra is a traditional and cultural practice. VastuIQ reports are not engineering, legal, financial or medical advice and do not promise any outcome.