36 Shells as evidence of tiie Migrations. 



devout to worship ; such are among the general explana- 

 tions given for its employment, but some ethnologists hold 

 that the innate and primitive significance of the use of the 

 blowing chank in temple worship is to scare away hostile 

 and evil-working spirits. This is a reasonable belief as 

 there is little or no doubt that the chank was used origin- 

 ally as a horn or trumpet by tribes holding animistic 

 beliefs prior to the development of the Brahman religion, 

 which appears to have adopted the use of the chank in 

 religious ceremonies together with many other rites from 

 the devil-fearing tribes who gradually came into the fold 

 of the new and higher religious belief." ao 



In Bengal it is customary to keep blowing-chanks in 

 the houses of the better class people for use in family 

 worship, and during eclipses and earthquakes these shells 

 are blown continuously till the eclipse or earthquake is 

 over. :;l 



Unlike the sinistral shells, which are usually mounted 

 in handsomely decorated golden settings, the temple 

 conchs are. usually without any ornamentation, but the 

 Udipi temple owns one very beautifully mounted in brass, 

 and this is sounded whenever the god (Krishna) is carried 

 in procession in the temple car. 8 - 



Chanks used as wind instruments are chosen of as 

 large size as possible, and the only preparation they 

 require is to have the apex knocked off. 



Apart from their actual use in temple ritual, chank- 

 trumpets are employed in connection with harvest rites, 

 marriage and funeral ceremonies, and in various other 

 ways in different parts of India. It is an essential part 

 of the professional paraphernalia used by certain castes 

 of religious medicants. " The Dasari," Hornell tells us, " is 



50 Hornell, op. cif., pp. 134-5. 



51 Ibid. p. 135. 



~ a Ibid. pi. xvii., fig. i. 



