Garbhanyasa is part of Vastu rituals in Hindu religion. Garbhanyasa is a ritual to ‘bring alive’ the building and its spaces. This is to be done in the evening or night after the building has been completed and is ready for occupation. The ritual can be performed for homes, residences, flats, society, temples, shops and any kind of buildings.
For the ritual, a specific location is marked and a small cavity is dug out into which a box made of copper or silver is place. It may have nine or twenty-five compartments. In the compartment facing east, offerings to Surya and Indra are made in silver and gold; in the south to Yama in iron and gold; in the west to Varuna in silver; in the north to Soma in silver. Nine grains, nine gems, minerals and herbs are placed in the box. The bottom of the cavity or pit should have earth from different places. The cavity is filled up amidst chanting and prayer.
This is held to be the source of life and movement. By placing it with its offerings to the energies, the building comes alive. Garbha means ‘the womb’, hence this is the womb or life-defining ritual.
The ritual may be carried out in the center or Brahmasthana, or in the north, west, east, south, on one side of the central axis (to the right facing from the outside).