Symbols - What does heaven look like
Shanka
A Shankha (Sanskrit: शंख, Śaṇkha), , is a ritual object, a religious object consisting of a conch shell, a kind of large sea shell. It is the shell of a large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc from the Indian Ocean. In Hinduism the Shankha is a sacred emblem of the Hindu preserver god Vishnu. The shankha is still used as a trumpet in Hindu ritual, and was used as a war trumpet in the past. The Shankha is praised in Hindu scriptures as “a giver of fame, longevity and prosperity, the cleanser of sin and the abode of Lakshmi - the goddess of wealth and consort of Vishnu”.
The symbolism is essentially derived from that for all shells, with the rather interesting addition because of the whorled shape of the shell that it also incorporates the symbolism of the Spiritual path