invertebrates

[Alexandra Vandergeer]

I guess you mean 'apart from the many conches as depicted as Vishnu's
attribute'. This conch-demon, obviously I miss something interesting,
never heard of it. I do know of a Vishnu attacking a giant snake, cq naga,
often depicted as half human, maybe it's the same episode but in a
different rendering. Or the 'conch' is the tortoise carapax?

Alexandra

> While we are pondering the question of invertebrates in South Asian
> art, it occurrs to me that I've never actually seen a representation
> of a conch--the creature itself, as distinct from its empty shell.
> The nearest I've seen is in paintings of the Conch-demon slain by
> Visnu: he is shown as a human figure emerging from a conch-shell
> where the animal would be.
>
> Valerie J Roebuck
> Manchester, UK
>