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heartened them for the fray by loud blasts on conch-horns. 
Even in very recent days the chank’s voice has called 
our enemies to the attack, and this too by other foes than 
Hindus, The graphic pen of Percival Landon in his 
‘Lhasa "—an account of the British Mission to Thibet 
in 1903-4, in describing a night cannonade of the British 
Commissioner's post outside of Gyantse by the Thibe- 
tans, paints a word picture worthy of quotation ‘‘ As one 
peers out into the warm night, a long monotone is 
faintly droned out from the darkness ahead. It is one 
of the huge conch shells in the jong and it may omy 
mean a call to prayer—the ‘hours’ of Lamaism are 
unending—but as the moaning note persists softly and 
steadily, a vivid speck of flame stabs the darkness across 
the river. A second later the report of the gun accom- 
panies a prolonged ‘ the-e-es’ overhead.” 
From the earliest times the conch has also been used 
in India to call the people to their sacrifices and other 
religious rites and as an instrument of invocation to call 
the attention of the gods to the ceremonies to be 
performed. 
With this intimate association with the chief 
religious rites, the people gradually came to reverence 
the instrument itself, and to adore and invoke it (see p. 
133 for details) as is also done with regard to many 
other instruments or articles of sacrifice in Hindu rites at 
the present day ; these latter do not, however, appeal in 
equal measure to the religious feelings of the multitude, 
for around them have not been woven the myths and 
legends pertaining to the chank. 
In the ceremonies attending the coronation of great 
kings the chank naturally played a great part. At the 
time when the Mahabharata was put into its present 
form, this custom was fully developed to judge from the 
description of the coronation of King Yudhistira given 
in the Shantiparwa of that epic. To quote from an 
interesting summary by Rao Sahib P. B. Joshi * “Kings 
of different countries, learned Brahmans and sages were 
invited for the ceremony. A Vedi or sacrihcial altar 
was prepared. There were brought Sam7dhas or pieces 
of sacred wood, five kinds of sacred leaves, waters of the 
* The Zimes of lndia /lustrated Weekly, 20th September Igrt, 
