Rare Antique Om Aum Curved Left Hand Shankh and similar items

Item Description This is natural Left Hand shankh.Outer layer of shankh is beautifully curved with Aum Om Symbol. Curving on shankh by artisan. To be kept in Alter,Work Place or any sacred place in Home. Importance The shankh is a sacred emblem used as a trumpet in Hindu ritual,and in the past was used as a war trumpet. The shankh is praised in Hindu scriptures as a giver of fame, longevity and prosperity, the cleanser of sin and the abode of Lakshmi. Shankh significance is traced to the nomadic times of the animists who used the sound emanating from this unique shell to drive away evil demons of whom they were scared.Over the centuries, the shankh was adopted as one of the divine symbols of Hinduism. Brahma Vaivarta Purana recalls the creation of conchs: Lord Shiva flung a trident towards the demons, burning them instantaneously. Their ashes flew in the sea creating conchs. The sound of the shankh symbolizes the sacred Om sound.Vishnu holding the conch represents him as the god of sound. Brahma Vaivarta Purana declares that shankh is the residence of both Lakshmi and Vishnu, bathing by the waters led through a shankh is considered as like bathing with all holy waters at once. Sankha Sadma Purana declares that bathing an image of Vishnu with cow milk is as virtuous as performing a million yajnas (fire sacrifices),and bathing Vishnu with Ganges river water frees one from the cycle of births.It further says"while the mere sight of the conch (shankha) dispels all sins as the Sun dispels the fog,why talk of its worship?" Padma Purana asserts the same effect of bathing Vishnu by Ganges water and milk and further adds doing so avoids evil,pouring water from a shankh on one's own head before a Vishnu image is equivalent to bathing in the pious Ganges river. In Buddhism,the conch shell has been incorporated as one of the eight auspicious symbols,also called Ashtamangala.