LIGHTNING WHELK WRONGLY SOLD AS SACRED LAKSHMI CONCH

[Guest guest]

om namo bhagawate rudraya

 

without going into the scientific properties and radiographic photographs, most

hindus worship dakshinavrut shankh just for the very reason for its shape being

dakshinavrut. if a higher niche product with higher values and higher benefits

is available and more information is shared on that, every one would be

grateful, but at the same time, millions of hindus are worshipping this sacred

dakshinavrut shankh commonly available from few hundred rupees to few thousand

rupees depending on size and branding them a waste product and worshipping them

is doing an apachar is little far-stretched.

 

in praise of lord shiva

arjun

chandrashekhar phadake <c_phadake > wrote:

Respected Shri. Richard ji,

 

Thank you very much for your detailed mail. I always have high regards for your

experience in rare items and your spiritual knowledge you are sharing on this

and on other forums. I am a regular visitor to your website on rare items and

to 'On-line Museum of Rare Items'. Recently, I have also become a member of

your very recenlty started club on rare items.

Thank you very much for your contribution in the field.

 

With my personal experience, it is very tricky to deal with suppliers regarding

costing of rare items. Experts in the field are aware of the fact that

business of rare items in India is run like that of gems. The business is run

in a chain of suppliers. At every level there is a profit of the person in a

chain. Naturally, cost goes on increasing. Cost is also increased depending

on the need and financial capacity of a customer or buyer. As far as gems are

concerned there are large no. of people in the business and therefore there is

not much scope (?) for sellers to inflate the cost of the gems and precious

stones artificially as per his wish.

 

There is definite yardstick for costing of gems and precious stones based on gem

characters like clarity, specific gravity, hardnes, quality of cuts, type of

inclusions and possible defects such as cracks, bubbles etc. You can guide us

more on this aspect being in the business of gemology for a long time.

However, this is not the case for Valampuri Conch being the rarest item.

There is no control on costing. It is quite likely that your contacts in India

quotated exorbitant rate to you. I think, you are from Bankok and naturally

higher cost is quoted to you being a foreigner.

 

In India, the cost of Valampuri Conch (I mean, sinistral Turbinella pyrum) is

definitely in the range of Rs. 1000/- to Rs. 1500/- per gram. Cost may be

little higher in case of large conch and blowing type of Valampuri conch, but

definitely not Rs.3000/- per gram. Like fake rudraksha, there are also fake

or artisan 'Real (?) Lakshmi Conch' floating in the market. I will be writing

a seperate mail on that aspect. As you have rightly mentioned, the most common

way is by selling Whelk at higher rate. The retail cost of 7" Whelk is approx.

Rs. 1000/-. In fact, if purchased in a bulk i.e. in a lot of minimum 50, this

Whelk costs only Rs. 250/- each.

 

Customer's wrong thinking is also sometimes responsible for higher cost. I

have seen people mentioning cost of Valampuri at a exorbitent rate. However, a

person who can afford to sell a conch for a lower rate is treated with a doubt

as 'Bogus' with a comment 'The item must be fake'. Sometimes, certain wrong

statements are also made publicly as 'There are only so and so no. of the items

in the world'. (But we have many !, is it not funny ?). I still remember the

article '21 Faced Fortune' published in the 'Economic Times' dated 18th or 19th

July 2004 regarding 21 mukhi Rudraksha as 'There are only three 21 mukhi in the

world'. The World is very large to estimate the total no. of perticular items

in it. Such baseless statements also adds to the increased price. The major

problem is that naturally a common man does not have much idea of

scientific characters of such natural products. It is therefore necessary to

educate people on this aspect and to keep the facts in front of them.

 

Thanking you and with personal regards,

 

Chandrashekhar Phadke

 

Richard Shaw Brown <rsbj66 > wrote:

Dear Sriman Chandrashekharji,and friends,Thanks for the information. Now we are

getting to the matter. Real v/sbogus. 95% of so-called Hindu websites are

selling near worthless Whelkas the fabled Valampuri. It this way they are

either cheating peoplethrough ignorance or knowingly. I have been researching

Dakshin-shanksince 1968. In the Valampuri area the fishermen say they find

oneValampuri shank per 1000 shanks they collect. Most of these are sold

inCalcutta, where it seems the Bengalis are more aware.Even the Hari Krishna

movement used to import thousands of worthless,non-divine Lightning Whelk and

give them as incentive to get lifemembers in India. Were they cheating? Or were

they ignorant?Bottom line is that such non-sense makes the Krishna's and

SanatanDharma look 1) ignorant, and 2) crooked. What a pity when a

mletcha"conchologist" in America knows what is a real Lakshmi Shank evenbetter

than many Hindus, who seem to be either "cheaters" OR "cheated"in this matter

of Lightning Whelk.I know poor people and they show a Whelk and say "Lakshmi."

If I wasn't"para-dukha-dukhi" I would have to laugh. And this makes the

richdisbelieve in the real thing, they themselves being uninformed.As I wrote

before, if you are a conchologist OR a Bhakta, either way asmall 30-40 grams

Valampuri will cost about one half to one lakh. Fullsized valampuri can cost up

to 2-6 lakhs. And to get a REAL Valampuri,even of 40 grams, for one lakh, is

peanuts compared to my business,which is Gemology. Even a clean 2 carat (less

than half a gram) rubywill cost much more than a 40 gram Lakshmi Shank. And

ruby is ruled bySuryadeva, and Valampuri is ruled by Lakshmidevi Herself! So

how canValampuri be so cheap, even at one lakh!? Compared to precious gems

areal Valampuri is VERY CHEAP. But it is not for the poor; and it is NOTa

Lightning Whelk.If anyone wants to see the comparison of Valampuri with Whelk

pleaseclick http://www.p-g-a.org/conch-artl.htmlBest

regards,Richardhttp://www.richardshawbrown.com--- chandrashekhar phadake

<c_phadake > wrote:> Dear Sir,> > I know what I mean to say. I know

the characters of the Whelk and> also of the Turbinella pyrum i.e. Indian

Conch. Whelk is without any> vertical pilae inside the conch apperture. Whelk

is commonly> available on the coasts of Florida, USA. Whelk is sold on size>

basis, while Valampuri is sold on the weight basis. Cost of the Whelk> having

length 7inches is not more than Rs.800/- in the Indian market.> Small

Whelks having length approx. 3 inches are available for the> cost of Rs. 300/-.

The large sized Whelks having length approx. 10> to 12 inches is not more than

Rs. 5000/- in the Indian market. There> is a diagnostic morphological

difference between Whelk and Indian> Conch i.e. Turbinella pyrum. There is

also a chemical difference in> Whelk and Turbinella pyrum. I am a

biotechnologist and study the> items more critically and scientifically. I

have also developed a> protocol to study the interior structure of conch by

modern> scientific methods. I agree that many of the people sale> and confuse

people (even few of the leading websites) by offering> Whelk as Valampuri.

Very soon, I will send photos of the high> quality Valampuri (Sinistral

Turbinella pyrum) on this club photos. > The cost of rare items are sometimes

unnecessarily exagerated.

> > Thanking you and with regards,> > Chandrashekhar Phadke> > Richard Shaw

Brown <rsbj66 > wrote:> Dear Sir,> > That is very cheap price and I do

not believe he is speaking about> real> Lakshmi Shank which is Sinistral

Terbinella Pyrum. The shell he is> speaking about is Lightning Whelk, which is

cheap, but is NOT a> Shank.> If you want to spend little money then better get

a normal real> Shank,> that is much better than a WHELK for Rs. 1000.> > But if

you can get Valampuri Sinistral Terbinella Pyrum for Rs. 1000> each, then I will

pay you triple and buy many pieces immediately.> > The problem is that now, in

India, they think Lightning Whelk shell> is> a Sinistral Turninella Pyrum

Conch. In fact, the Lightning Whelk> shells> wrongly sold as Lakshmi Shank are

imported into India from

North> America, NOT from India.> > I have written this post to help people.

Please don't be fooled.> > Best rgds,> Richard>

http://www.richardshawbrown.com> > --- chandrashekhar phadake

<c_phadake > wrote:> > > Dear LG,> > > > Cost of the authentic

'Valampuri Conch' in the Indian market is in> > the range of Rs. 1000/- to Rs.

1500/- per gram depending upon its> > beauty and size. Large sized conch are

generally costly due to its> > rarity. Similarly, Valampuri Conch which can be

blown is also very> > expensive as it is extremely rare than the normal

Valampuri.> > > > Thanking you and with best wishes,> > > > Chandrashekhar

Phadke> > > > LG <lagan29 (AT) (DOT) co.in> wrote:> > dear

brother> > > > how does one differentiate between a fake and a real valampuri>

> shankh? what is price of the authentic rare valumpuri shankh . can> it> > be

found in rameshwaram?> > > > regards> > > > > > Richard Shaw Brown

<rsbj66 > wrote:> > Dear Hindu Sanatan Dharmis,r> > > > Just a

friendly note to inform you that 99% of the shells being> sold> > as genuine >

> Valampuri Òdakshinavarti Ò Sri Lakshmi Shank are completely bogus.> > > >

What they are wrongly selling is actually another type of common> > shell > >

imported into India from North America called ÒLightning WhelkÓ> > (busycon > >

contrarium). It is not a ÒConchÓ shell, what to speak of being a> >

Dakshinavarti > > Conch. It is simply a case of either

ignorance or cheating.> > > > If you visit

http://www.agt-gems.com/Book/laxmi-conch.html - you> will> > learn > > about

and see REAL Lakshmi Conch (sinistral turbinella pyrum). > > > > Among shell

collectors (Conchologists) and learned Brahmans there> is> > ONLY > > one

Lakshmi Conch (sinistral turbinella pyrum)... And a LIGHTNING> > WHELK > > is

positively NOT it. > > > > The prices the Lightning Whelks are selling for is

absurdly cheap> for> > a > > precious Sri Lakshmi Conch (although it may be

fair price for a $5> > Lightning > > Whelk). > > > > And many foolish people

and even temples use the bogus Lightning> > Whelk > > shell and thus they

remain poor. And this FACT makes the rich> people

> > disbelieve in real Lakshmi Shank.> > > > In fact, it is Archan-aparada to

use any shell except Shank (Conch)> > either left > > side or right side

opening. Shastra has stated, for example, that> > bones are > > ashuda or

impure, except the Shank, which is divine. So Lightning> > Whelk is a > > bone

and is NOT a Shank, therefore using Whelk shells is ashuda.> > > > Attn: Hindu

Whelk suppliers: Soon the public will find out that> most> > ALL the > > "puja"

dealers are selling Lightning Whelk as a real "Lakshmi> Conch."> > And > > when

they stop doing that nonsense, then Srimati Lakshmi Shank will> > regain > >

Her divine position as near priceless. If a person cannot afford> the> > steep

price > > of a Valampuri, then they can use a left-side opening Shank, which>

is> > very low > > price. But they should never use a Whelk shell.> > > >

Sukriya!!! OM TAT SAT> > > > Best regards,> > > > Richard Shaw-Brown, PG> >

http://www.richardshawbrown.com > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >

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