Vāstu puruṣa

The vāstu puruṣa is the cosmic figure that the vāstu texts describe as lying face down over every building site, his head toward the north-east. His body is overlaid by the vāstu-puruṣa-maṇḍala, a square grid usually of 64 or 81 cells, each assigned to one of some forty-five deities. The vāstu chapter of the Bṛhat Saṃhitā, the Mayamata and the Mānasāra use the maṇḍala to lay out plans and place rooms.