What is Lal Kitab?
Lal Kitab means “Red Book”. It comes from a set of old texts written in Urdu and Persian, and it blends Vedic astrology with ideas from palmistry.
It is different from standard Vedic (Parashari) astrology. Lal Kitab uses its own fixed house system and its own way of reading a chart. Above all, it is known for its remedies, called upay or totke. These use everyday items such as copper, silver, milk or sweets instead of costly rituals or gemstones. That is why so many people ask for a Lal Kitab report: it offers practical, affordable solutions to the problems a horoscope shows.
Lal Kitab and Vedic Astrology Compared
| Vedic (Parashari) astrology | Lal Kitab |
|---|
| Houses | Houses start from the rising sign (Ascendant) | Fixed houses: the 1st house is always Aries, the 2nd Taurus, and so on |
| Focus | Signs, houses, aspects, yogas and dashas | The house each planet sits in, and how planets affect each other |
| Remedies | Gemstones, mantras, pujas and rituals | Simple acts: donating, feeding animals, floating items in water |
| Cost | Remedies can be expensive | Remedies are usually free or cost very little |
How a Lal Kitab Chart Works
In a Lal Kitab chart, the signs never move: Aries is always in the 1st house, Taurus in the 2nd, and so on to Pisces in the 12th. Your planets are placed in the same houses they occupy in your birth chart.
Example: suppose you were born with the Sun in Gemini in the 4th house and Mars in the 9th house. In your Lal Kitab chart, the 4th house shows Cancer (its fixed sign), but the Sun still sits in the 4th house and Mars in the 9th. The houses keep their fixed signs; only the planets come from your birth chart.
Each house also has a fixed ruling planet (pakka ghar) that represents it:
| House | Fixed sign | Ruling planet | House | Fixed sign | Ruling planet |
|---|
| 1st | Aries | Sun | 7th | Libra | Venus |
| 2nd | Taurus | Jupiter | 8th | Scorpio | Saturn and Mars |
| 3rd | Gemini | Mars | 9th | Sagittarius | Jupiter |
| 4th | Cancer | Moon | 10th | Capricorn | Saturn |
| 5th | Leo | Jupiter | 11th | Aquarius | Jupiter |
| 6th | Virgo | Ketu | 12th | Pisces | Rahu |
A planet in the 7th house from another planet is said to support it. For example, when Saturn is in the 10th house, the 4th house benefits.
How Lal Kitab Remedies Work
- Give away what troubles you. Lal Kitab says you benefit by donating the items linked to a troublesome planet, while keeping or using those items can make things worse.
- Let water carry it away. Many remedies involve floating an item in a flowing river, such as copper for the Sun or silver for the Moon. The idea is that the water carries the trouble away.
- Feed and care. Feeding cows, dogs, crows or fish, and caring for family members, are common remedies because each is linked to a planet.
- Use the planet’s friends and enemies. Items of a friendly planet strengthen a weak one. For example, Saturn rules the west, so keeping items of the Sun (wheat, copper, jaggery) in the western part of the home is said to calm a harsh Saturn.
- One remedy at a time. Do a single remedy for 40 to 43 days, during daylight, and do not skip days.
Planet-by-Planet Remedies
Your report tells you which planets are weak in your chart. These are the traditional Lal Kitab remedies for each one.
SunDeity: Lord Vishnu
Signs of a weak Sun: eye trouble (especially the right eye), heart problems, stomach trouble.
- Donate jaggery (gur) or copper vessels.
- Drop copper coins in a flowing river, especially when the Sun troubles you from the 10th house.
- Pour a little milk on a small flame at night to cool the Sun’s fire. This is advised when the Sun is in the 7th house, the house of Libra, where the Sun is debilitated.
- Worship Lord Vishnu in the morning or recite the Vishnu Sahasranama.
- Eat less salt; the weaker the Sun, the less salt.
MoonDeity: Lord Shiva
Signs of a weak Moon: worry about the mother’s health, low mood, lung trouble, loss of family property.
- Drop silver in a flowing river.
- Keep a bowl of water or milk near your head at night and pour it under a banyan tree in the morning.
- Offer water or milk on a Shiva lingam, or chant the Shiva Mahimna Stotra.
- Do not sell milk; give away water, rice or silver instead.
- In the 3rd house: give green clothes to young girls. In the 4th or 10th house: avoid drinking milk at night. In the 11th house: offer milk at a temple and worship Bhairava.
MarsDeity: Lord Hanuman
Signs of a weak Mars: anger, quarrels with brothers, accidents, trouble with children when Mars is in the 2nd house.
- Give away sweet tandoori rotis.
- Float revadi (sesame and jaggery sweets) or other sweets in water.
- Give sweets to people in need.
- Worship Lord Hanuman and offer jaggery, sindoor and a garland; then take the prasad yourself.
- Care for your brother’s family and your relatives.
MercuryDeity: Goddess Durga
Signs of a weak Mercury: poor health, trouble in business or speech, problems for a sister or wife when Mercury is in the 7th house.
- Burn cowrie shells and drop the ashes in water.
- Drop copper coins with a hole in them in a river.
- Donate whole moong (green gram).
- Worship Goddess Durga, read the Durga Saptashati and fast during Navratri.
- Respect and help young unmarried girls.
- When illness is linked to Mercury, offer a bottle gourd at a temple.
JupiterDeity: Lord Brahma
Signs of a weak Jupiter: loss of respect, trouble with studies or a teacher, delay in having children.
- Collect one rupee from each family member and donate the total at a temple.
- Plant or water a banyan tree.
- Donate turmeric, chana dal, yellow flowers, yellow items or books.
- If having a child is delayed, worship the Divine Mother.
- Jupiter in the 12th house: after the father or grandfather passes away, keep chana dal or saffron near your bed at night.
VenusDeity: Goddess Lakshmi
Signs of a weak Venus: trouble in married life, lack of comfort, skin or beauty concerns.
- Set aside a portion of your meal to feed a cow.
- Donate ghee, curd, camphor, clothes or pearls.
- Always respect women.
- Worship Goddess Lakshmi and recite her hymns.
SaturnDeity: Lord Shiva and Bhairava
Signs of a weak Saturn: delays, losses, trouble with property, house building or servants.
- Feed wheat or flour balls to fish.
- Set aside food for crows.
- Donate whole black urad dal, mustard oil, iron items or leather goods.
- Saturn in the 5th house with the Sun in Leo: let your son, not you, build a new house.
RahuDeity: Goddess Saraswati
Signs of a weak Rahu: sudden setbacks, confusion, instability, trouble from the roof of the house.
- Float a coconut in flowing water.
- Keep barley wrapped in a red cloth at home.
- Donate radish, mustard seeds or coal, or float coal in a river.
- Rahu in the 8th house: drop coins in a river.
KetuDeity: Lord Ganesha
Signs of a weak Ketu: problems with a son, trouble in the legs or urinary system.
- Feed a dog regularly; Ketu is linked to dogs.
- Donate sesame seeds.
- Donate a rug or blanket at a temple.
- For leg or urinary trouble, wear a pearl set in silver on a silk thread.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Lal Kitab?
Lal Kitab (the Red Book) is a branch of Indian astrology from old Urdu texts. It reads the birth chart with a fixed house system and is best known for simple, low-cost remedies called upay or totke.
How is a Lal Kitab report made?
We place your planets in the fixed Lal Kitab houses using your date, time and place of birth, then explain what each planet means in its house and which planets need a remedy.
How long should I follow a remedy?
Usually for 40 to 43 days in a row, during daylight. Follow only one remedy at a time, and choose the one for the planet that troubles you most.
Are Lal Kitab remedies safe?
Most are simple acts such as donating, feeding animals or floating an item in a river. They are not a substitute for medical, legal or financial advice. Never stop medical treatment because of a remedy.