Which coconut oil should be used for the lamp test?
Use pure coconut oil of the kind that solidifies when it is even slightly cold, like the edible coconut oil used in the South. If that is not available, a blended brand such as Parachute can be used if it burns properly.
Related questions
A bone was found on a plot meant for an industry. What must be done before building there?
Removing the bone is not enough; the land needs its rites, just as a house is purified after a death. Do a vastu registry with five coconuts (four corners and the bone spot), remove the affected soil, do agni sanskar with mango wood, ghee and camphor in 16 places and float the ash in flowing water, purify with water and mantra, sprinkle gomutra and plaster with cow dung, put lime and sulphur in the pit, keep a lamp burning there for 24 hours, and mix a little mercury into the soil and the four corners. If the shilanyas had already been done, it is broken and must be redone after purification.
Does the coconut kalash for Parjanya work when kept outside a door at E2?
Yes. In a flat seen on a recent visit, whose door is exactly at E2 (Parjanya), the resident keeps a water-filled kalash with a coconut on it outside the door and changes the water daily; the coconut has grown into a large plant, and the resident reported very good results for ten years without needing any planetary remedies. This is exactly the remedy prescribed for Parjanya.
How can one tell whether Shikhi devta is activated?
Three tests. Offer nine aahuti of half a spoon of desi cow ghee with half a spoon of rice over burning Bhimseni kapoor: if the ghee fragrance spreads through the whole house up to the pishach bhoomi, the devta is active. A ghee diya at the spot that burns longer than the same ghee lasts elsewhere also shows activation. Sow wheat in soil in a leaf dona, as in Navratri: jaware about 11 inches long in seven days mean full activation, about 7 inches mean moderate, and then the activation methods should be done.
How do we know whether Shikhi or Parjanya is deactivated?
Use the same tests taught for activation. If the devta is deactivated, no fragrance spreads (desi ghee for Shikhi, chandan for Parjanya) and no sprouting happens (the wheat jaware for Shikhi, the coconut on the kalash for Parjanya).
In which direction should the ghat diya method be done?
Do not think of it as a lamp burning for 24 hours in the Agneya (South-East). Use a small diya and place it in the Ishaan (North-East), because the devtas seated in the Ishaan, such as Shikhi, help a great deal.
In which month are Shikhi and Parjanya devtas awake?
Every devta has its own month; Shikhi and Parjanya stay awake in Shravan (Sawan). The coconut kalash can still be placed at Parjanya after Shravan has passed; once Parjanya is awake it fulfils the wishes of the residents, so that in such a house whoever enters and voices a wish sees it fulfilled.