Faith and Fascination of Shaligrama or Ammonite Fossils

- By Ravi Upadhya

During our vacation in Mexico in 2010, on our route to “Chichen Itza,” an archeological site of
Mayan ruins, we were fortunate to have a knowledgeable and passionate guide of Mayan
descent. Being a proud Mayan, throughout the three-hour bus ride to the site, the guide went on
describing his Mayan heritage, symbols, ways of worship, lifestyle,
and more. Just when I thought I heard enough and about to doze
off, suddenly, the guide picked up a black volcanic rock from his
bag of mysterious Mayan crafts and started to praise its value
among Mayans and today. He showed everyone how it glows with
golden rakes when held against sun light; he stated how Mayans
used these volcanic rocks to heal their physical pains; how they are Volcanic rock sold in Chichen Itza
used in today’s world of spa and massage; and how the volcanic
rock symbolizes water, fire, earth, air and space. He went on for quite some time, yes, he
wanted sell these rocks for handsome monetary gain for him and his tribe. I am sure, if not for
his words, tourists would just treat them like marbles through their eyes of modern civilization.

Being grown up in another part of the world that is also connected to its roots of infinite Yugas,
not just tens of thousands of years as modern science likes to believe the age of mankind for
the lack of a scripted history, Mayan story and beliefs drew me into a very different universe of
imagination. A universe tightly integrating planets, objects, living souls and most importantly
acquired skills and knowledge passed on across multiple extreme make-overs of the life on
earth, called “yugaantara” in Sanskrit. Are we all deeply connected to common set of beliefs
loosely termed “Faith”? Or is there truth behind these beliefs? That is the science behind
“Dharma” for all of us to explore.

Getting back to the volcanic rocks, some of those magma rocks with specific fossilization, it is
believed to represent God by most ancient civilizations. These actually are well preserved
archives since the origin of time as well as a window to the future. Modern science is very
fascinated about these so called “Ammonite Fossils” found in the Himalayas, Mediterranean
Terrain and the Gulf of Mexico; in alternate words all points of “tectonic plate collisions”.

Just for a point of reference, Tectonic plates might have been called in Sanskrit according to
their geographic shapes as “Jambu” (rose apple shape for Indian Plate), “Krauncha (crowned
bird for North American Plate)”, Kusha (grass leaf), Palasha (fig leaf), Shalmali (five petal
flower), Shaka (umbrealla tree top ) and Pushkara (wide circular lake).
Not diving deep into the Vedic geography, staying with
modern science of Ammonites, Himalaya is formed by
Indian plate colliding with Eurasian plate. Over the years,
i.e. half a billion or more years, Himalaya grew in layers
fossilizing the then sea creatures’ mostly invertebrate
animals such as Cephalopoda. The fossils in black magma
rocks make eye catching forms of planispirals, although
there were some helically-spiraled and non-spiraled forms
(known as "heteromorphs"). Their spiral shape begot their
name, as their fossilized shells somewhat resemble tightly-
coiled rams' horns. In fact, the name Ammonite is originated
from an Egyptian word God “Amun” who was typically
depicted wearing ram's horn.
Variety shapes of ammonite fossils

These fossilized rocks were also available in Mediterranean nations due to a similar tectonic
plate collision of African plate with Eurasian plate. Greeks and Egyptians used these in their
treasuries, jewels and royal symbols.

Shaligrama

Hindus worship the ammonite fossil rocks found specifically found in river Gandaki in Nepal
(Himalayas) with specific formations of Chakras (spherical) as iconic representation of Vishnu.
These rocks are called “Shaligrama”.

Few images of Shaligrama
(sea), fossilized life (energy) and hollow space (air) in between. Unbroken Shaligrama rock has
a hollow space in the middle.
Bhagavad Gita Chapter 12 verse 6 states this about God’s
manifestation, “it is difficult to concentrate on God as non-
manifested form than God with specific form, due to humans having
the need to perceive via their senses”. Hindus select some form of
manifestation to meditate God, typically representing the five basic
elements namely earth, fire, water, air, and space preferably all five
forms. Natural things like coconut representing all five elements are
used as God’s manifestation for the duration of the worship.
However, Shaligrama is considered as a permanent manifestation
of God due to its eternal life, made of earth, fire (volcano), water
Many Puranas, there are 18 primary ones available, state the importance of Shaligrama rock.
They all proclaim that the Universal God (meaning of word Vishnu) permanently resides in
Shaligrama of any form.

For every Hindu, “Mantra” (mental tune) and “Moorthi” (image of

God) are two important aspects in training one’s mind for the
journey of their lives. They help us time and time again to reset
our goal towards the one and only one eternal truth. If one
takes the exit for gas, food or rest, he or she needs direction to
get back to the highway before getting lost for far too long,
Larger image of the Chakra
right? Similarly the all forms of worships server one purpose,
guiding us back to the original goal.

Padma Purana states that Vishnu resides in Shaligrama for ever.

Unbroken Shaligrama with
mouth and visible chakra
Garuda Purana says all universal objects can be used to represent God
as God resides in every element, but the Shaligrama is the best form to
worship Vishnu. Brama Purana proclaims that Shaligrama represents
God in any form even if it is cracked, chipped, or seen in pieces.
Skanda Purana supports the permanent presence of God in
Shaligrama saying that when worshipping Vishnu in Shaligrama, one
need not invoke him, meaning no “Avahana” necessary.

Shaligramas based on the visible formations are

perceived to represent different avataras of Lord
Vishnu. For example, shaligrama rock with wide
mouth is seen as Narasimha, one with wide middle
is called as Damodara and so on. Shaligrams rocks
with golden rakes in the middle are considered
Lakshmi Narasimha
Damodara Shaligrama Lakshmi Narayana rocks and are very much sought
after by the people who love material wealth.

Beyond the worshipping of Vishnu, Puranas such as Padma Purana also specify some physical
properties of the rock beneficial to human living. Holding of Shaligrama in ones fist for an
extended period for worship without grounding it and our body, as well as drinking water flown
through Shaligrama purify one’s body and soul according to Puranas. Did we not hear about
the similar healing ability of Shaligrama in Mexico from a Mayan’s descent? That’s why I said
earlier that we all appear to be connected to single thread of faiths.

Amazingly civilizations across the globe believe that a special effect, similar to “magnetization”,
due to the touch and the proximity of the “divine” rocks influence messenger fluids of our body
and train electromagnetic waves of our thoughts when a prescribed procedure is performed
using these rocks.

Faith or fascination? I guess searching for the ‘old’ truth is research.