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śankh, white conch (Xancus pyrum) shell carved with floral motifs and a mouth hole bored through the apex. Used as a trumpet.
The sound of the conch symbolises the primordial and sacred sound ‘Aum’. The flower may represent a vajra (sceptre) lotus which has two petals removed. The conch trumpet is associated primarily with temple rituals.
These objects are only a part of our collections, of which there are more than 350,000 objects. This information comes from our collections database. Some of this is incomplete and there may be errors. This part of the website is also still under construction, so there may be some fields repeated or incorrectly formatted information.
The database sometimes uses language taken from historical documents to help research, which may now appear outdated and even offensive. The database also includes information on objects that are considered secret or sacred by some communities.
If you have any further information about objects in our collections or can suggest corrections to our information, please contact us: enquiry@horniman.ac.uk
