Short answer: Main gate Vastu depends on the road side. Divide that compound wall into nine equal parts: the middle parts of a north or east wall are best, and a south or west wall has a narrow good stretch near the middle. Avoid the corners. The gate should open inward, be wider than the main door, and face no obstruction.
The gate and the main door are two separate checks
The gate decides how your plot receives the street. The main door decides how the house receives the plot. They do not have to sit in a straight line, and in most Bangalore houses they do not. I check each one on its own, then see how you walk from one to the other. The door has its own rules, which I cover in main door Vastu. This page is about the gate in the compound wall: independent houses, row houses, builder floors and villas. In an apartment, the society gate does this job and you cannot change it, so I only note it.
Each stretch of the wall also carries a planet’s direction. A south road, for example, belongs to Mars, so the right gate position matters more for a family whose chart shows Mars under pressure.
Which stretch of the compound wall
Take the wall that faces the road, measure it, and divide it into nine equal parts. The traditional mandala gives each part a deity, and some parts are good for a gate while others are not. This is the version I use on site:
Read the road side first with my Vastu compass for the gate wall.
| Road on the | Better stretch for the gate | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| North | The middle parts (Mukhya, Bhallat, Soma) | The north-west end |
| East | Middle, leaning towards north-east (Jayant, Mahendra) | The south-east end |
| South | Just towards south-east of the middle (Vitatha, Grihakshat) | The south-west half |
| West | Just towards south-west of the middle (Sugreev, Pushpadant) | The north-west end and the south-west corner |
On a 30×40 or 30×50 site, each part is only about a metre wide, so I mark it on your actual measurements. Often the fix is moving a pedestrian gate along the wall by a metre or less.
For how the gate, the car and the door sit together on a 30×40, 30×60 or 40×60 east plot, see my east facing site plans.
Height, width and how it opens
- The gate is wider than the main door of the house and in proportion to the wall.
- Keep its top roughly in line with the compound wall. A gate that towers over a low wall looks and works awkwardly.
- The south and west compound walls should be a little taller and thicker than the north and east.
- It opens inward, into the plot. Sliding gates are fine where space is short.
- No creaking, sagging or rust. Oil the hinges and fix a gate that drags on the ground.
- A grille or gap at the top lets light through; a fully solid gate suits a south or west road better than a north or east one.
What should not face your gate
Look straight out from the gate before you fix its position. I note these on every site visit:
- A road that runs straight into the gate from across the street.
- An electricity pole, a BESCOM junction box or a mobile tower right in front.
- A large tree trunk, an open drain or a garbage point at the opening.
- The sharp corner of a neighbour’s building pointing at it.
Shifting the gate along the wall usually clears these. When it cannot move, a planter or a small wall inside the gate breaks the straight line without blocking the way in.
Bangalore houses: two gates, ramps and slopes
Most independent houses here have a wide car gate and a small pedestrian gate. I check both, but the one your family uses every day matters more. Keep the driveway slope falling towards the north or east if you can, so rainwater leaves the plot from that side. If you are still at the drawing stage, my house construction Vastu notes show where to fix the gate before the compound wall goes up, because moving it later means breaking that wall.
Fixing the gate around the owner’s chart
The nine-part method tells me where a gate may go. The birth chart of the person who owns the plot helps me choose between two acceptable positions. Saturn is given the west, so on a west road I weigh the owner’s Saturn closely: someone in Saturn mahadasha or sade sati gets a gate placed with more care, a solid wall on either side and no sagging hinges.
If you only want the gate marked on your site plan, plot or house Vastu at ₹1,499 does the job. When you are building and want the gate, the door and the rooms planned with your chart and your coming dashas in mind, the Astro-Vastu consultation for owners and builders is where I would start.
Have your gate checked
Send me the site plan with north marked, the road side and a photo taken from the gate looking out. I review an existing house for ₹1,499 per floor online, and plot Vastu is ₹1,499 as well; a site visit is quoted on request. The written report reaches you within 48 hours. See how my Vastu consultation in Bangalore works, or book a session online or at my Begur studio.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which direction is best for the main gate?
North and east roads give the most room to place a gate well, but south and west gates can work when they sit in the right stretch of the wall. The road side is fixed; what you control is where along the wall the gate goes.
Should the main gate and the main door be in one line?
They do not need to be. Most plots cannot manage it anyway. What matters is that each sits in a good part of its own wall and that the walk from gate to door is clear and well lit.
Should the main gate open inward or outward?
Inward. A gate that swings out onto the road is a nuisance and a hazard. If there is no room to swing inside, use a sliding gate.
Can I have two gates on my plot?
Yes. A car gate and a pedestrian gate is the normal setup. Place both in good stretches if you can, and if only one can be right, make it the one the family uses daily.
Is a gate in the south-west corner a problem?
It is one of the positions I ask people to avoid. On an existing house the usual answer is to keep that gate for occasional use and move daily entry to a better stretch of the wall.