The shell height is 90-290 mm [7] . The shell of the mollusk is strong and heavy, with varying degrees of curl elevation. The last turn of the shell is extended. Shoulder curls smoothed and almost not expressed. Between the revolutions of the shell, the seams are thin, somewhat depressed. Siphonal outgrowth straight or slightly curved, long, characterized by a wide channel. The mouth of the shell has an elongated shape. The inner lip is widely turned outwards. On its inner edge, it carries several well-defined teeth (usually two or three). The outer lip is not thickened, slightly curved. The sculpture of the outer surface of the shell is represented only by growth lines, sharp and curved. Shell color is yellow or brown. The mouth is white or yellowish [8] [9] .
It lives at shallow depths of 10–27 m [10] . Predator. The usual form in their habitats [11] .
Shankha
Hindu priest, blowing in the conch, made from the shell
Turbinella pyrum Shankha ( Sk . शंख , Śaṇkha IAST , Tib. དཀར་ , Wiley dung dkar , Lhask. [Tʰúŋkar]) is a ritual object in Hinduism that represents the shell of the turbinella pyrum [13] [14] . In Hinduism, shankha is one of the attributes of Vishnu [14] . In Hindu texts, shankha is associated with fame, longevity, prosperity, purification from sins, as well as with the eternal abode of Lakshmi , the goddess of prosperity and consort Vishnu. In Hindu art, shankha is most often depicted as an attribute of Vishnu [14] .
Shankhi konkh are trumpeting during Hindu temple rituals, as well as at weddings and funerals of Tamil Indians . In the past, it was also used on the battlefield to summon troops, warnings about an attack or the start of a battle.
Newborn babies put a bracelet on their wrist, and a necklace of shells of this type of molluscs around their necks. Small shells can be used as a horn when feeding babies. The whole shell of the turbine pirum was sometimes laid at the base of a house under construction [6] .
Holy Chunk
In most gastropods , including the turbine pirum, the shell is spun to the right (clockwise) and is called dexiotropic . However, there are also left-handed shells, which are called synistral . If you look at the shell from the mouth, then the right-handed shell is located on the right side, and on the left-handed one, on the left side. For some single marine species, such as the Busycon contrarium , it is the norm-twisted shells that are the norm. And for the overwhelming majority of marine gastropod species, the right-hand shell is the norm. As an exception, left-wound shells can be extremely rare in species with right-wound shells [15] [16] .
The sacred chunk (panchayanya sankya) is a type of shankhi, which is the left-handed shell of the pirum turbinella, which has become sacred among Buddhists [5] [17] . In India, it is believed that a sea demon lives in this shell, who was defeated by the god Vishnu and therefore this shell has become a symbol of this god. In Tibet, this sacred shell is known as “Dungkar”, which means “white shell”. In the konhi , made from this shell, monks trumpet during religious holidays. Buddhist monks call the shell to the temple, announcing the beginning of the sermon. Such shells were set in silver and richly decorated with decorative carvings and precious stones. Among the rulers of Burma, a sacred chunk, the upper part of which was entirely set in gold and precious stones, served as a scepter [2] .
From India, the cult of the holy chunk penetrated into Indonesia, and then into China. Through Tibet, where the Lamaist religion was formed, the “sacred shells” penetrated everywhere where the religion itself penetrated. The Europeans, having reached India in the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries , made the shell cult a source of profit. They began to import shells of the Busycon genus into India from the Caribbean, some species of which have left-handed shells, which is the norm. The shape of the shell of the Busycon mollusks is similar to that of the turbinell pirum, but they have not so smooth contours. The Indians have long bought these shells, considering them sacred. However, the exposure of deception led to a drop in demand for left-turning shells. In the middle of the 20th century, 2-3 million copies of the pirum turbine were mined in the waters of southwestern India, and no more than 0.01% of left-turned shells (about 200 pieces per year) were caught among them [2] .
