Where faith meets fossils

Shaligram stones of the Kali Gandaki, seen through tradition and through geology.

S.C.O.B.E.A. Editorial Desk · 2026-07-05

Two ways of knowing

In Hindu tradition, Shaligram stones are revered as sacred forms associated with Vishnu, and many are gathered from the Kali Gandaki river in Nepal.

Geologists recognise many Shaligrams as concretions containing ammonites — extinct marine molluscs — weathered out of Jurassic marine shales that were lifted high into the Himalaya by the collision of India with Asia.

S.C.O.B.E.A. records the cultural meaning as a Traditional Account and the geological origin as a documented observation. Neither is presented as replacing the other.