Installation Of Conch Shell
(Chanku Sthapanam)

Procedure

There are two half yearly courses of the sun. They are:

1. North Declination (Uthirayana) -the course from south to the north

2. South Declination (Dakshinayana) -the course from north to the south.

Based on his birth star, the owner of a plot should choose the ideal solar declination. During the course of the chosen solar declination, an auspicious solar day (vara) under an auspicious asterism (nakshatra) and auspicious conjunction of planets (Yoga) when the all are of the sun is spotlessly clear, is chosen for performing the installation ceremony. In a particular place in his plot, the owner should dig out a small pit of a depth equal to twice the size of a conch-shell. Then he has to install the nine gems (Navarathna) and the five metals (Panchaloga) in the pit and decorate the pit with sandal paste, vermilion and flowers. Finally the metal plate with the mystical diagram (Maccayandram) is placed in position in the pit and covered with soil up to the ground level.