Turbinella pyrum
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Turbinella pyrum, common names the chank shell, sacred chank or chank, also known as the divine conch or referred to simply as a conch, is a species of very large sea snail with a gill and an operculu
Turbinella pyrum 01
Carved Conch
Hindu priest blowing a trumpet made out of a large shell of Turbinella pyrum, in Tirupati, India
Dakshinavarti shankha
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Dakshinavarti shankha, also referred to as Valampuric caṅku and Sri Lakshmi shankha is a sacred Hindu conch. It refers to the shell of a large sea snail from the Indian Ocean, but one that has a rare
Turbinella pyrum
…one in approximately 200,000 individuals). In the Hindu religious context, the very rare left-handed (sinistral) shells of this species are known as Dakshinavarti Shankh in Sanskrit or Valampuri shankhu in Tamil, as opposed to the more common right-handed forms, which are known as Vamavarti or Edampuri shankhu. The…
A Sri Lakshmi conch shell
The lightning whelk shell (pictured) is often mistakenly sold as a Valampuri conch shell.