Conch - symbol for luminance and purity

Conch:

Conch is symbol for luminance and purity. Gods are invited to rituals at the beginning by resonating conch .Conch is known as 'Sankham' in sanskrit and defined as Sam - Good & kham that means water. Totally sankham means a vessel which stores holy water. Generally, this conch is used to store pure water which is called 'Thirtha'. This water will be distributed and taken to remove negative energy.

Cultural Importance:

There is a cultural importance for sacred conch in the ancient Hindu rituals. Conch had taken birth when good and evil forces churned the milky ocean for immortal nectar.
Once there was a demon king called Shankasura who theft 'Vedas' by defeating Devas. Devas prayed to Lord Vishnu and Lord Vishnu in Mastyavtar killed Shankasura and taken bones from ear and head which resembles in the shape of conch and blown as symbol of his victory. The sacred sound “OM” is generated when Lord Vishnu blown conch.

According to Hindu ancient texts, Sun, Moon and Varuna reside at the bottom of conch. Lord Prajapathi will reside at upper part of the conch. All sacred rivers and waterfalls lay in the front position of conch.

Whenever conch is blown, due to those sound waves coming from it kill all the diseases causing virus in the environment. Hence Conch has got its own importance in ayurveda.

No temple should be opened without blowing Conch which was stated in Varahapurana. Blowing conch will attract sattva guna (positive energy) and creates a protective shield to the place where it was blown. Conch turned in right side will be used to keep in houses to gain money, calmness and development in life.

Conch is kept in silver vessel or mud vessel by packing with red cloth. Conch shouldn't kept empty it should be filled with water or rice. Conch is used to give water to sun as arghyam. In yoga there is shanka mudra to control disorders of nervous system.

Significance:

All types of rituals were started by whistling the conch in Hinduism. Lord Vishnu carries conch called Panchajanyam. In the epic Mahabharata, Arjuna carries conch called Devadattam, Bhima has Pondram, Dharmaraju has Ananthavijayam, Nakula has Saghosha and Sahadeva has Manipuspakam.

Whenever conch was echoed, it purifies the environment. Negative energies cannot tolerate the sound of conch. The sound of conch gives braveness, courage and happiness.

A good conch when whistled echoes Om sound. Hindus believe that conch means nature and truth behind the nature. By whistling conch thyroid and para thyroid can be cured. Conch should be whistled by raising once head and closing eyes. These sound waves generated from conch will protect from spreading cholera and plague diseases. Vedas like Adharvana and Yajur states that sound waves from conch kill demons and negative energies. Brahma vyvartha purana states that water which is filled in conch will relieve from all types of diseases by detoxifying body and soul. The water filled in conch contains sulphur and calcium in high concentrations. People who are Stutters (disorder in speech) will get tremendous results by drinking conch water. The ash of conch is used in variety of Ayurvedic medicines. Original conchs will be available in kailash manasarovar, srilanka, maldivies, Lakshadweep and koramandal. Conches are of several types which are distinguished based on their shapes Right handed conch (spiral twists rightwards), left handed conch (spiral twists leftwards), Mouth opened conch.

Ganesha Conch is used for to get nice education, victory, Luck, development of family and to overcome obstacles. This conch will eliminate Rahu graha dosha if worshipped daily. It resembles Lord Ganesh and one of the 8 symbols of lord Budha. People believe that it will give good results in export and import business if worshipped. It will give name and fame if it was kept in south direction in the living room of a house. It will give escalation in education when it is kept in north-east corner. It keeps good relations in family when it is kept in south-west direction.

Interesting Facts:

Conch has many health healing properties:

• The water which was kept in the conch for a night will cure all type of skin diseases when used in bathing.
• The water which was kept in the conch for a night in addition to rose water will give shining to hair and improves color of hair when used in head bath.
• The water which was kept in the conch for a night (12hours) will clean intestines and eliminates stomach pains when it is taken with empty stomach in the morning.
• The water which was kept in the conch for a night (12hours) will cure all types of eye diseases when eyes are washed with it.
• When conch was rubbed on face after bath will eliminate dark patches, wrinkles and gives glow to face.
• Kapila (Dark tanned) cow’s milk will be filled in conch and used in house purification rituals to eliminate any vastu doshas.

Conch Varieties: Dakshanavrati Shank: This is most admirable conch for Goddess Lakshmi. Whoever worships this conch will see gradual development in life. This is Right handed conch (spiral twists rightwards) in white color with brown lines in spiral. Lord Kubera is governing south direction and he is the god for wealth so this conch will bring lot of money to the place where it was kept. This conch will be available in many sizes from small grain size to coconut size. These are very rare and available in the bottom depth of sea. These will clean the environment and removes negative energies in the place where it is kept. In a good right handed conch, we can see 3 or more horizontal lines from the top of conch.
Vamavrati Shank: This is left handed conch (spiral twists Leftwards). It is easily available and used in spiritual practices. Original conch will give positive energy when it is whistled. According to Jyotish Sastra, whenever a person is suffering from planets due to the disposition in astro has to worship this conch. This conch will eliminate evil effects of planets and gives health, wealth, victory and peace. It will clean the atmosphere by eliminating negative energies.
Gomukhi Shank: This conch resembles the face of a cow that is why it is named as Go - Cow, Mukhi - Face. Cow is considered as the scared animal from ancient Hinduism. This will give good results when it is worshipped. Worshipping gomukhi conch is equal to worshipping a cow.
Kari Shank: This conch is very rare. Hindus believe that this is very strong and hard than an elephant. According to ancient texts, kari-elephant is admirable by goddess lakshmi and the color of shank compared to tail of God Nandi. This shank was tied to god nandi in many Shiva temples. This will give protection to children.
Mothi Shank: Mothi means pearl. Pearl conch is available in the place where pearls avail. This holy conch is very pure and eliminates all evil effects caused by moon in astro and gives inner peace. This conch is available in a very clean place without any doshas. According to ayurveda, this conch has many medicinal uses.
Pahari Shank: Pahari means mountain. This conch is available on mountains and it is very rare. The inner view of this conch shines like crystal quartz. It is same as right handed conch. This is used for goddess lakshmi. Tantriks used this conch in their practice. This conch has huge demand in market.

Sthri Shank or Shankini: This is neither to worship nor to whistle. The upper area of this conch is very rough and covered with thorns. It will not echo good sounds when whistled and it is surrounded by retrograde circles. This conch will eliminate disturbed frequencies which attracts negative energy. This conch was used by Aghoras in their practice.

 Scientific Reasons:

• Usually, we can hear the sound of peaceful sea when it is kept near to the ear. This is not only a sound, it is echo of universe. This sound will eliminate negative energies in our body and reduces pollution on earth.
• Planets which are negative in astro can be cancelled by keeping conch in their house. Astrologers usually advice the position where to keep conch based on planetary position in the chart.
• Whenever conch was echoed, it will release sound waves which are in red color and turns to yellow circles and release rose cells when they mixed with environment.
• Sterilized vibration quality in conch when whistled will destroy virus and bacteria in the environment. Indian scientist Jagadish Chandra Bose proved the power of conch scientifically.
• Person who blows conch regularly will not get affect by any lungs or respiratory diseases. Tuberculosis, Asthma, Influenza, Liver, Spleen diseases will be eradicated echoing conch.
• Conch showed significant results in reducing deaf and dumb in the people.
• Cochlea (inner part of ear) resemble like a conch. This part in the ear will transmit sound waves to brain. Sound waves reaches ear and they vibrate tympanum or eardrum in ear. The waves from the eardrum will be transmitted to cochiea by micro level bones and muscles. In this process pressure waves are produced and travelled through a tube which is in the shape of conch. Whenever conch waves reached eardrum it makes cochlea work actively. This makes improvement in reducing deaf and dumb in the people.
• The inner view of conch is positioned in spiral or snake spiral way and releases spiral energy when it is whistled. Living organisms’D.N.A arranged in Spiral double hexa molecular structure. Conch waves’ strengthens this structure in humans.
• Conch is not only related to traditions of Hinduism but when it is viewed in scientific way it is nectar to human life and also conch gives many medicinal values.