Shankha
Shankha ( Sanskrit : शङ्ख śaṅkha, hindi : शंख śaṅkh, tib .: dung dkar ; German: ' shell horn ' or ' snail horn ') is next to the club ( gada ), the throwing disc or the wheel ( chakra ) and the lotus ( padma ) one of the four main attributes of the Hindu deity Vishnu . It is also one of the 'eight symbols of happiness' ( ashtamangalas ) of the three religions that originated in India, Buddhism , Hinduism and Jainism, and is acoustically closely related to the sacred syllable Om, which is articulated in a deep voice .
origin
The so-called 'conch shell' is made from the shell of the ' real pear snail ' ( Turbinella rapa , syn. Turbinella Pyrum ) living in the Indian Ocean , which is sometimes washed ashore on the coasts of the Indian subcontinent . However, the snail has been hunted by divers for a long time, because its meat is considered very tasty. At some point the idea arose to make a wind instrument by removing the tip from the housing that would produce an extraordinarily loud and unmistakable sound that was very suitable as a military signal tone. Much later, the horn is also likely to have been used in religious ceremonies, where it was mainly used by brahmin priests to drive away 'bad spirits'.
Attribute of Vishnu
In one of his four hands, Vishnu holds a snail horn; two others hold weapons (club ( gada ) and throwing disc ( chakra )), the third hand holds a lotus flower ( padma ). In connection with the two weapons, the warlike origin of the conch shell - perhaps even the deity himself - becomes clear. But the instrument is never used by Vishnu, but appears - like the other attributes - only as an insignia of power or sovereignty. Also, the avatars Vishnu ( Matsya , Kurma , Varaha , Narasimha and Krishna ) are sometimes with a shankha shown in the hand. In modern sculptures and pictures, his wife Lakshmi sometimes holds such a snail horn in her hands.
Other gods of India ( Surya , Indra , Kartikeya and Durga ) are also sometimes depicted with a snail horn in one of their hands. The five Pandava brothers of the Mahabharata epic (Yudhisthira, Arjuna , Bhima , Nakula and Sahadeva) also wear shankhas , whose names are even mentioned.
Buddhism
The conch shell is not mentioned in older Buddhist texts and representations. In Tibetan Buddhism but also in the other Buddhist and Hindu regions of Southeast Asia such as Vietnam (and in some cases Indonesia ) it was and is of great ceremonial importance. It is also an attribute of the Bhrikuti tara.
Courtly ceremonial
In the traditional court ceremonies of the Buddhist and Hindu regions of Southeast Asia such as Thailand and Cambodia , the Shankha is still of great ceremonial importance.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Peter and Anneliese Keilhauer: The visual language of Hinduism. The Indian world of gods and their symbolism. DuMont, Cologne 1983, p. 68, ISBN 3-7701-1347-0
- ^ HG Quaritch Wales : Siamese State Ceremonies . London 1931, Reprint by Curzon Press, Richmond 1992, ISBN 0-7007-0269-5