Shukra is depicted in some tellings as a one-eyed sage, a consequence of a myth in which he loses an eye defending the asuras, riding a chariot drawn by eight horses, and carrying a staff and a rosary as marks of his priestly, ascetic character even as his planet governs love and comfort. His day is Friday (Shukravar), kept by many worshippers as an auspicious day for marriage negotiations and for purchasing luxury goods, since a well placed Venus is held to bring charm, romance and material ease.
As with the other navagraha, dedicated temples to Shukra alone are uncommon; he is usually honored within the navagraha shrine attached to a larger temple, where white flowers, white sandalwood, and silver colored offerings are considered fitting, white being his favored color in ritual practice. The figure of Shukra as guru of the asuras has made him a durable symbol in later Indian thought for hard won or dangerous knowledge, wisdom that is real and effective, such as the secret of reviving the dead, but placed in service of the cosmic order's losing side, and popular retellings and regional performance traditions continue to draw on the tension between his brilliance and his allegiance to the losing side of the old war between gods and demons.