Image title: Shaligram (from Nepal)

This image shows a Shaligram, from Nepal, dating nearly one hundred million years.—The fossil mollusk called shaligram or shalagram (saligrama, salagrama), by contrast, should symbolize no god but Vishnu but some see in the shells’ whorls the trunk of the elephant-headed Ganesha.

Gallery information:

The Patan Museum is located on the Durbar square of Patan (Lalitpur/Lalitapura, Kathmandu, Nepal) which is associated Keshav Narayan Chowk (Keshavnarayan)—a form of Lord Vishnu. Being listed as a World Heritage Site, the whole of Durbar square is filled with exquisite temples, sculptures and other ancient structures, of which the ancient history history can be traced to the Malla Kings of Lalitpur. It is an important site for both Buddhism and Hinduism.