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Conch shells typically have a high spire and a noticeable siphonal canal (in other words, the shell comes to a noticeable point on both ends). Conches that are sometimes referred to as "true conches" are marine gastropods in the family Strombidae , specifically in the genus Strombus and other closely related genera.
Conch (US: / k ɒ ŋ k / konk, UK: / k ɒ n tʃ / kontch [1]), or conque, also known as a "seashell horn" or "shell trumpet", is a wind instrument that is made from a conch, the shell of several different kinds of sea snails. Their natural conical bore is used to produce a musical tone. Conch shell trumpets have been played in many Pacific ...
Horagai (法 螺 貝) (or jinkai 陣 貝) are large conch shells, usually from Charonia tritonis, that have been used as trumpets in Japan for many centuries. The instrument, which has served a number of purposes throughout Japanese history , has been given a number of Japanese names depending on its function.
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In English, the shell of this species is known as the "divine conch" or the "sacred chank". It may also be simply called a "chank" or conch. There are two forms of the shanka: a more common form that is "right-turning" or dextral in pattern, and a very rarely encountered form of reverse coiling or "left-turning" or sinistral. [9]
Cowrie-shell divination refers to several distinct forms of divination using cowrie shells that are part of the rituals and religious beliefs of certain religions. Though best-documented in West Africa as well as in Afro-American religions, such as Regla de Ocha, Candomblé, and Umbanda, [1] [2] [3] cowrie-shell divination has also been recorded in India, East Africa, and other regions.
The conch shell is thought to have been the original horn-trumpet; ancient Indian mythical epics relate heroes carrying conch shells. The Indian god Vishnu is also described as having a conch shell as one of his main emblems; his shell bore the name Panchajanya meaning "having control over the five classes of beings". [1]
It is customarily made with a carved wooden mouthpiece and a bell made from New Zealand's small native conch shells (Charonia lampas rubicunda) or triton shell (Charonia tritonis). [1] Larger pūtātara were particularly prized as the triton shell was rarely found and only sometimes washed up on the beaches in the Far North. [2]