Shri Yantra and Kuber Yantra: Placement, Direction and Puja Vidhi

These are the two yantras that account for most first purchases, and both are frequently installed in the wrong place. Placement is not a detail in this tradition - it is most of the practice.

Shri Yantra

The Shri Yantra is the diagram of Lalita Tripurasundari, and the most geometrically elaborate yantra in use: nine interlocking triangles - four pointing up for Shiva, five down for Shakti - generating 43 smaller triangles around a central bindu.

Associated with: abundance in the broadest sense, harmony in the home, spiritual advancement, and the removal of persistent obstruction.

Placement:

• The puja room, facing east or north, is the primary position.
• The north-east of the home - the Ishaan corner, traditionally the most sacred direction.
• At eye level or above when seated for practice.
• In a business, the north or east wall of the main working area.

Kuber Yantra

Kubera is the lord of wealth and treasurer of the gods, and his yantra is a numerical grid in which every row, column and diagonal sums to the same total. It is the working wealth yantra - the one placed where money is handled rather than where practice is done.

Associated with: financial stability, business growth, retention of wealth, and clearing debt.

Placement:

• The north - Kubera's own direction, and the direction of wealth in Vastu.
• Inside a safe, locker or cash box, facing the room.
• The north wall of an office, so you face north while working.
• In a shop, near the till, facing the entrance.

Kubera's direction is north. Lakshmi's is south-east. If you have both, they do not share a wall.

Installation

1. Choose the day. Friday or Dhanteras for wealth yantras; a Navratri day or full moon for Shri Yantra.
2. Purify. Wash with clean water, then panchamrit if available, then rinse and dry.
3. Prepare the place. A clean raised surface with a fresh red or yellow cloth.
4. Offer. Lamp, incense, flowers, kumkum, and something sweet.
5. Chant. 108 repetitions of the yantra's mantra - Om Shreem Hreem Shreem Kamale Kamalalaye Praseed Praseed Om Shreem Hreem Shreem Mahalakshmyai Namah for Shri Yantra; the Kubera mantra for Kuber Yantra.
6. State your intention clearly and specifically.

Daily routine

The routine matters more than the elaborateness of the installation.

• Light a lamp - ghee or sesame oil - each morning before it.
• Offer incense or dhoop.
• Chant the mantra 11 or 21 times. Three minutes is enough.
• Wipe it clean weekly with a dry cloth.
• Offer flowers on Fridays.

A copper yantra will develop a patina. That is natural ageing and not a fault; clean it gently with lemon and salt only if you want the shine back, and re-purify it afterwards.

Placement mistakes

• In a bedroom. Yantras belong in the puja space or the workspace.
• Facing south or west. East or north, always.
• Below waist height, or on the floor.
• In a bathroom, kitchen or under a staircase.
• Left dusty. The most common failing, and the one that matters most.
• Too many. One yantra worshipped daily is the tradition. A collection on a wall is decoration.
• Installed and forgotten. Without a routine, an installed yantra is just a metal plate.

Read what is a yantra for the underlying geometry, or Vastu for your puja room for the wider layout. Browse yantras.