A unique conch shell museum in Madhya Pradesh

Chattarpur (Madhya Pradesh), June 10 : A unique conch shell museum at Chattarpur in Madhya Pradesh has a private collection of around 40,000 conch shells of a priest.

Harsevak Mishra, the priest claims that he collected these conch shells during his trips to various temples of India during the past five decades.

"I have been visiting various temples of India since 1956. It was then that the idea struck me. There are about 40,000-42,000 conch shells here. In the entire country, no place has so many conches and shells," said Harsevak.

The mini museum of conch shells has attracted many visitors from far and wide who appreciated the effort of the priest.

Many visitors spent hours listening to the tales attached to each one of the conch shells.

"There are more than 330 million gods in our country and here are conches representing most of them. There are all types of conches and shells providing us information about Mahabharata," said Manish Kumar Tiwari, another priest.

The priest claims that his museum is the only one of its kind in the entire world.

A Sankh shell is often referred to as a conch shell, or a chank shell. Hindus use it as an article of prayer. It is also used as a trumpet, during religious practices and blown at specific points while worshipping and is accompanied by ceremonial bells and singing.

The warriors of ancient India blew conch shells to announce a battle.

Vishnu, the God of Preservation, is said to hold a special conch, Panchajanya, that represents life, as it has come out of life-giving waters.

ANI