Conch the large white sea-shell with a spiral inner structure is used in Bengal, Orissa and other parts of India for blowing as a horn during religious ceremonies. Before any use, it has to be cleaned thoroughly with some blowing shells decorated with elaborately carved designs. Its use as a craft material is confined to Bengal, exclusively to the Sankhakar community. The shell is collected during an annual season in the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu and Kutch and is usually sold to nakhodas-muslim wholesalers, who retail them to craftsmen from their Calcutta bases.