Lightning Whelk wrongly sold as sinistral turbinella pyrum (Sri Lakshmi Shank)

The Planetary Gemologists Association Global

Planetary Gemologists Association (In The Siam Society)
131 Soi Asoke - Sukhumvit 21 Road, Bangkok 10110, Kingdom of Thailand
Tel: (66) 2-661-6479 / (66) 2-661-6480 • Fax: (66) 2-260-2833 • E-mail: sec@p-g-a.org

"LIGHTNING WHELK" WRONGLY SOLD AS "SRI LAKSHMI CONCH"

Genuine Sri Lakshmi Conch (sinistral turbinella pyrum)

Lightning Whelk (busycon contrarium) is NOT a Conch

Above are entirely different types of shells: Left is a Lakshmi CONCH shell - on right is a Lightning WHELK shell

Amazing two and a half foot long ancient Sri Lakshmi Conch.

IT IS IN HUMAN USE FOR AT LEAST 800 YRS. IT IS WAS BEING WORSHIPPED BY A TANJORE BASED BRAHMIN FAMILY BEFORE CURRENT OWNERSHIP. PREVIOUS OWNER WHO IS A VEDIC BRAHMIN FROM TANJORE FOLLOWING RAMANUJACHARYA CULT, THIS PROPERTY IS BEING TRANSFERRED FROM FATHER-SON SINCE 12-15 GENERATIONS. THE ANCESTORS OF THE PREVIOUS OWNER USED TO BE STATE PRIESTS OF TANJORE,

THE METAL COVERING IS AT LEAST 500 OR MORE YRS OLD. IT IS A PROPERTY PREVIOUSLY OWNED BY KINGS OF TANJORE,,,WHICH WAS TRANSFERRED TO THE STATE PRIEST OF TANJORE

Dear Puja Article Dealers,

Just a friendly note to inform you that the shell you are selling as “dakshinavarti “ or Sri Lakshmi Shank on many of your web sites...

...is actually another type of shell called “Lightning Whelk” (busycon contrarium). It is not a “Conch” shell, what to speak of being a Dakshinavarti Conch. It is simply a case of misidentification.

If you visit http://www.p-g-a.org/lakshmi-shank.html - you will learn about REAL Lakshmi Conch (sinistral turbinella pyrum). Among shell collectors and learned Brahmans there is ONLY one Lakshmi Conch (sinistral turbinella pyrum)... And a LIGHTNING WHELK is positively NOT it. As you can see the prices the Lightning Whelks are selling is absurdly cheap for a precious Sri Lakshmi Conch (although it may be fair price for a Lightning Whelk).

But the poor people mis use the bogus Lightning Whelk shell and thus they remain poor. And this FACT makes the rich people disbelieve in Planetary Gemology.

Whelk suppliers: I hope this helps your business because soon the public will find out that most ALL the "puja" dealers are selling Lightning Whelk as an imitation of a "Conch."

Sukriya!!!

Best regards,

Richard Shaw-Brown, PG
http://www.richardshawbrown.com

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