Talk:Gomti Chakra

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Contested deletion[edit]

This page should not be speedily deleted because...

  1. It's not about any business.
  2. It is very significant for Hindus .
--Aryan from हि है (talk) 03:58, 7 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Species[edit]

I can't find it. Pinging the experts: Hello, Invertzoo, JoJan, and Snek01. How are you all? I thought I'd call in the dream team to see if you can help ID this. Best wishes! Anna Frodesiak (talk) 13:06, 7 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The common name of Gomti Chakra is Cat's Eye Shell (or Snail). As far as I can find, this is also the common name of Lunella smaragda (Gmelin, 1791), a turban snail found also in New Zealand at the intertidal and low subtidal shores. It has an attractively colored operculum, which looks somewhat like an eye, and which is sometimes used for decorative purposes. JoJan (talk) 14:01, 7 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Anna. This is the operculum of a sea snail in the family Turbinidae. I agree with JoJan, although without an image to check, it is hard to be quite sure that Gomti Chakra refers to the operculum of that particular species as opposed to the operculum of various other large species in the same family. Invertzoo (talk) 14:25, 7 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]
This is also known as Nag chakra or Gomti shila and an alt spelling is Gomati chakra in Indian astrological remedies/Vastu shastra. You can buy it from Amazon (picture for Invertzoo) for less than the price of a latte and double your wealth subsequently! Joking aside, the article probably should be redirected to the scientific name article and perhaps a one sentence note included there about this usage. —SpacemanSpiff 14:41, 7 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, @JoJan, Invertzoo, and SpacemanSpiff:. Thank you all very, very much for the good information. My very best to you all! Anna Frodesiak (talk) 16:28, 7 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

If someone can put together a lot more info (from reliable sources) about the uses of, and meaning of, this talisman or holy object within the Hindu context, then it would be perfectly fine to have it as a separate article. But if no such further information is findable, then it could become a section in another article. Perhaps there should be a section in the article operculum about this. The info may or may not also easily fit into the article on Lunella smaragda although we are not sure that is the only species (or the only correct species) to be used as Gomti Chakra. Invertzoo (talk) 18:14, 7 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Pinging Joshua Jonathan who might be able to dig up some sources as he probably has contextual knowledge. I got bored after the first few pages of Google. —SpacemanSpiff 18:19, 7 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Gomti Chakra, Cat's Eye Shell, Lunella smaragda: to me it sounds like a new book of Harry Potter: no idea what this is. @Ms Sarah Welch, VictoriaGrayson, Kautilya3, and Iṣṭa Devatā: would you know more? Best regards, Joshua Jonathan -Let's talk! 18:32, 7 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

@JJ: I don't know. Never came across it in ancient or medieval Hindu text manuscripts I have read (may be I missed it). It could be related to aniconic symbols such as Shaligram found in Hinduism, or this may just be a fad to boost sales in their festival season. As @Invertzoo suggests above, for now, it should at best be a section of another article, such as operculum or Shaligram or something. Ms Sarah Welch (talk) 21:50, 7 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

@JJ: My guess is that this is another name for a specific type of shaligram. Some shaligrams appear to be actual ammonite fossils, while others are these "cat's eye" trapdoors from turban snails. These are used like the banalinga for shiva as an aniconic object of worship. Like the linga stones, these are naturally occuring and because of their chakra shape they are associated with Vishnu's sudarshana chakra. They come from the Gomti river according to google, hence gomti chakra. Check [1], [2] and Dvaravati sila to start your hunt. One of these says something about it being in the garuda purana. That last page mentioned could also be merged, rewritten or deleted depending on this page's destiny. Iṣṭa Devatā (talk) 06:34, 8 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Looking into this further, especially on the shaligram talk page, it looks like these might be unworthy of the name shaligram, if it is in fact restricted to items of the Gandaki river. It seems like a related but maybe more recent phenomenon that may also have been played up to help sell some operculi which are more plentiful than prehistoric fossils. It's certainly not easy to find anything on turban snails and shaligrams specifically. Iṣṭa Devatā (talk) 07:50, 8 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]