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Shankha

Carved conches or Vamavarta shankhas, c. 11–12th century, Pala period, India: The leftmost one is carved with the image of Lakshmi and Vishnu, and has silver additions.
A shankha, 19th century
A Shankha (conch shell) with Vishnu emblem carved

A shankha (Sanskrit: शंख, romanized: Śankha, lit. 'conch') has religious ritual importance in Hinduism.

In Hinduism, the shankha called panchajanya is a sacred emblem of the Hindu preserver deity Vishnu.[1] It is still used as a trumpet in Hindu ritual, and in the past was used as a war trumpet.[2] According to Arunava Bose, "The shankha is praised in Hindu scriptures as a giver of fame, longevity and prosperity, the cleanser of sin and the abode of goddess Lakshmi, who is the goddess of prosperity and consort of Vishnu".[3]

The shankha is displayed in Hindu art in association with Vishnu. As a symbol of water, it is associated with female fertility and serpents (nāgas).[4]

The shankha is one of the eight auspicious symbols of Buddhism, the Ashtamangala, and represents the pervasive sound of Buddhism.[5]

  1. ^ Chatterjee, Gautam (2001). Sacred Hindu Symbols. Abhinav Publications. p. 77. ISBN 978-81-7017-397-7.
  2. ^ Lochtefeld, James G. (2002). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: N-Z. Rosen. pp. 624–625. ISBN 978-0-8239-3180-4.
  3. ^ Bose, Arunava (2021-08-26). Shrouded in symbols. Ukiyoto Publishing. p. 54. ISBN 978-93-5490-116-4.
  4. ^ Sturman, Janet (2019-02-26). The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Music and Culture. SAGE Publications. p. 3731. ISBN 978-1-5063-5338-8.
  5. ^ McElroy, D. R. (2020). Signs & symbols of the world : over 1,001 visual signs explained. New York, NY: Quarto Publishing Group. p. 183. ISBN 9781577151869.

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