white conch or Shanka handicraft is one of the most elegant arts practiced in various villages of West Bengal. Not only conch shell crafts are beautiful and delicate, but also as per Hindu & Buddhist mythology, they are considered to be extremely auspicious.

In this art form, beautiful images are crafted on natural shells, obtained from the ocean bed. The craftsmen known as “Shankhari” or “Sankhakar” belong to a very ancient community called “Nabasakha“. Crafting on conch shells is very native to West Bengal. The newly married women are gifted shanka bangles as a holy marital sign. The engravings on the conch shell reflect the social, mythological & historical background of Bengal. While some artists draw stories of Lord Shiva or Lord Krishna, on the other hand, Bablu Nandi of Bankura got a national award for giving life to the whole Kurukshetra’s war (an entire episode of epic Mahabharata) on an 11-inch conch shell.

It takes at least two to three months to deliver one delicate art piece. There are more than twenty thousand Shankhari in Bengal. After almost 70 years of being in practice they are struggling to make money from conch shell handicrafts, because the younger generation does not consider it fashionable to wear them. The quality of raw conches is not as good as it was two decades back, machine-made plastic bangles are flooding the market.

Conch belongs to the Mollusca species called ‘Shankham’ in Sanskrit. The word is derived from ‘shum’ meaning something good and ‘kham’ denoting water.

Shanka handicrafts are as pure as the sound of Panchajanya. In this auspicious festive season bring goodness to your household by gifting your mother or wife a pair of shanka. Your one “buy now” click can bring lunch to one poor Nadia family.

Thank you.