30/03/2023
A shaligram, or shaligrama shila (Devanagari: शालिग्राम शिला Śāligrāma-śilā), is a particular variety of stone collected from riverbed or banks of the Kali Gandaki, a tributary of the Gandaki River in Nepal.[1] It is used as a non-anthropomorphic representation of Vishnu by Hindus. They are typically fossils of ammonite shells from the Devonian-Cretaceous period, 400 to 66 million years ago. The fossils (also called Astamurti) are considered holy by Hindus. The Shankha (conch shell) resembles symbols associated with Vishnu.