Tradition links Ketu with turning inward, detachment, simplicity and spiritual practice. Below are many options, the ₹0 ones first; choose whatever suits you. For Ketu the site suggests no gem; it gives information only.
Eating or sharing a simple grain or fruit linked with the planet, on its weekday.
Now and then include kulthi dal or soup in a meal. The horse gram–Ketu link is in the text; eating it is tradition.
When: Tuesday or Saturday
Don't
The text mentions feeding Brahmins rice cooked with cereals for Ketu. Today's form (tradition): make khichdi and serve it respectfully to someone in need.
When: Whenever convenient
The planet's weekday fast or Ekadashi, within your health; ask a doctor if unwell, pregnant or on medicines.
Ketu has no weekday of its own. Tradition links Ketu with Ganesha, so many keep the Sankashti Chaturthi fast: fruit by day, a meal after moonrise. In some places a Tuesday or Saturday fast is kept instead.
When: Chaturthi of each Krishna paksha
Don't
On both Ekadashis of the month, skip grains and eat fruit; it is held to be a fast of self-discipline.
When: Each Ekadashi
Don't
Everyday conduct tied to what the planet signifies: respect for elders, honesty, discipline.
Praśna Mārga, for adverse transits, asks one to heed elders, listen to good teachings and keep the mind pure.
When: Daily
BPHS (on the 12th from the Karakamsa) links Ketu with final liberation. From this, tradition links Ketu with detachment, meditation and spiritual practice.
When: —
Sit quietly for 10 minutes a day, watch your breath or say a prayer. Give away things you don't use to someone who needs them; don't hoard.
When: Daily, morning or night
Do
Don't
Clothes or flowers in the planet's colour on its weekday, and the direction linked with it.
BPHS describes Ketu's form for contemplation as smoky in colour. If you like, wear something grey or light brown.
When: Tuesday or Saturday
Don't
Phaladīpikā assigns Ketu a clay vessel and a cloth of mixed, varied colours. A multi-coloured or two-tone cloth (such as a seat) can be used in worship.
When: During worship
In the Navagraha-mandala tradition Ketu sits in the north-west. If you like, face that way during Ketu's japa.
When: During worship or japa
Do
Feeding cows, dogs, birds or ants, serving elders and people in need; never harming any creature.
Cleaning at a temple, serving at a bhandara, or helping at an ashram. Quiet service is linked with Ketu in tradition.
When: Whenever possible
Do
Give a street dog a roti or clean water.
When: Daily, or Tuesday / Saturday
Don't
Watering or planting the tree linked with the planet (e.g. shami for Saturn, peepal for Jupiter).
In BPHS, kusha is Ketu's havan offering, so kusha is linked with Ketu. Use a kusha seat or ring in worship; leave growing kusha alone unless it is needed. This is tradition.
When: During worship
Don't
The planet's name-mantra, beej mantra or a stotra, a few calm minutes a day.
Sit quietly and repeat it 11 or 108 times. It is held to help steady the mind.
When: Tuesday or Saturday
Do
A beej mantra of the tantric tradition. 108 times, on any mala.
When: Tuesday or Saturday
BPHS (on the 12th from the Karakamsa) links Ketu alone with worship of Ganesha or Subramanya. In tradition, 'ॐ गं गणपतये नमः' is chanted or the Ganapati Atharvashirsha recited.
When: Wednesday or Chaturthi
Lighting a lamp on the planet's weekday or visiting a temple linked with it.
BPHS asks that flowers and cloth of the planet's colour, sandal, a lamp (deep) and guggul be offered in the planet's worship.
When: During worship
A sesame-oil or ghee lamp at the home shrine. A visit to a Ganesha or Navagraha temple. As pilgrimage, people visit Keezhaperumpallam in Tamil Nadu (a Navagraha site) and Srikalahasti in Andhra Pradesh. It is a matter of faith.
When: Tuesday, Saturday or Chaturthi
Don't
Simple, harmless totke from Lal Kitab (a separate tradition); nothing that harms rivers, animals or property.
Lal Kitab links Ketu with the dog; give a dog a roti (tradition mentions a black-and-white dog, but any dog is fine).
When: Daily, or whenever possible
Don't
Give a black-and-white (two-tone) blanket at a temple or to someone in need.
When: In winter, or whenever convenient
Lal Kitab links Ketu with children and nephews; spend time with them and help with their studies or needs.
When: Always
Giving a small item linked with the planet, within your means, to someone in need on its weekday.
BPHS names a goat as Ketu's charity. It is a gift of older times; no one today is bound to it.
When: —
Praśna Mārga names an elephant and a sheep when Ketu's transit is adverse. These are gifts from the age of kings.
When: In the context of transits
A two-tone blanket, horse gram or satnaja (seven grains) for someone in need; or feed at an animal shelter. The ₹0 form: an hour's service at a temple or ashram.
When: Tuesday or Saturday
Don't
A bath with water steeped in the planet's herbs; skip it if your skin reacts.
Praśna Mārga, for adverse transits, speaks of a daily bath and 'pouring on the body medicated waters of the appropriate planet'. A clean daily bath is the ₹0 form.
When: Every morning
Add a little nagarmotha (musta) powder or sesame leaves to bath water. Lists differ between traditions.
When: Tuesday or Saturday morning
Don't
A plant root linked with the planet, worn in cloth or an amulet; traditions name different roots.
Tradition names the ashwagandha root for Ketu. Tied in grey or two-tone cloth and worn on the arm or neck. Traditions differ.
When: Tuesday or Saturday
Do
Don't
The rudraksha of the planet's mukhi (e.g. 7-mukhi for Saturn), with a genuineness check.
Tradition links the nine-mukhi rudraksha with Ketu. Worn on a red or black thread at the neck or wrist.
When: Tuesday or Monday
Do
Don't
The planet's number yantra on copper or bhojpatra, for the prayer place; no claims of power.
Keep a Ketu yantra on copper or bhojpatra at your home shrine and bow to it with a lamp. It is an aid to focus and worship.
When: Tuesday or Saturday
Don't
For worship, BPHS asks for a bell-metal image of Ketu, or a picture drawn on cloth in his colour, placed in his direction.
When: During worship
A pandit performs the planet's japa or havan with a sankalp in your name; agree the cost beforehand.
BPHS gives 17,000 recitations of Ketu's Vedic mantra (opening: केतुं कृण्वन्…), after worshipping the planet. Learn a Vedic mantra from a teacher or pandit before reciting it.
When: Begin on a Tuesday or Saturday
BPHS gives kusha for Ketu's havan (with honey, ghee, curd or milk) and 108 or 28 offerings.
When: After the japa
Usually: sankalpa (your name and gotra), Ganesha puja, Ketu puja, japa and a short havan. The ₹251–₹2,100 range usually covers a sankalpa puja or a short japa; the full 17,000 count takes several pandits several days and costs more. ₹0 option: recite one mala yourself daily.
When: Tuesday or Saturday
Do
Don't
Only for the chart's functional benefic planets; the lower-cost uparatna first, then a certified ratna. No gem is necessary.
No gem is suggested for Rahu or Ketu (hessonite, cat's eye): they own no sign and traditions differ. Only ₹0 options are suggested for them; the gem guide gives information only.
Listing the planets' gems, Praśna Mārga gives vaidurya (cat's eye) for Ketu (in the context of transits). Tradition takes tiger's eye as its uparatna. The site suggests no gem for Ketu, since Ketu owns no sign and traditions differ.
When: —
Don't
Phaladīpikā (Sastri's translation) gives 'lapis lazuli or turquoise' as Ketu's stone. Gem names and translations vary across texts; this is one more reason the site suggests no gem for Ketu.
When: —
Lal Kitab is a popular, separate North Indian tradition; its remedies are shown here separately, under its own name.
Remedies are done with faith, regularity and patience; tradition sees them as a way to steady the mind and turn it to good deeds.
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