Strange koftgari beast on kukri
 

Hello again to all of you! It must seem that my name is like some awful chicken pox type rash across the forum at the moment, but as we haven't posted for a while, we've amassed a fair few interesting things and heres another one - and this time its for the Kukri frat to explain. We've had this piece awhile and have often sat over a coffee and ginger nut discussing the meaning of the koftgari creature so crudely worked into the blade. We've speculated that the beast is Dino, the pet dinosaur of the Flinstones, we could of course be right but somehow maybe not!! So its over to those who hopefully know..... The court calls Spiral!!! The pin working to hilt is rather attractive-is this common to kukris? Its something we've never before seen. Could this be a sacrificial weapon and the strange clawed creature a indicator of such usage??
Kuk measures:
A hefty 51cm.
The belly at its widest point is 6.5cm.
Spine width: 10mm
Weigth: 620g
Many thanks in advance. Andy and karina

You mean it's not the outline of the mouse they swatted with it during the forging process? :D

F

Hi,

My guess is this is a tiger.....very crude.....but a tiger none the less. Also seen are the floral motifs along with the Sun and Moon emblem....

There is a fort called Raigad in Maharashra, India which has a similar looking thing on the main entrance ....

Here is the link to one such snap...


http://www.google.co.in/imgres?imgur...w=1345&bih=593

Regards,
Bhushan

LOL ! Well Andy/Karina its certanly some fascinating Naive art on that piece! I dont know what the creature is, But it would be open to interpritation. . In Nepal things like that are usualy seen as bieng in the eye of the beholder.{Mening it is whatever you see in it. Personaly today I see a Tiger. ;) }

I would say It would be to serve as an auspicios symbol to prevent anything supernatural or malignant becomeing attached to the kukri or it keeper after use.. obviously the other symbols are sun & moon, done in the same naive style.

I need full photos of entire piece & also the hilt to accurently comment further on decoration or possible sacrificial use.

Spiral

And just to let you know it is not koftgari but brass inlay.....

Interesting creature.......

Hmmm... interesting creature indeed. When I look at the "head" though, I don't know if I see a tiger. In fact, upon close inspection, I believe it be the elusive and incredibly rare Scrotumasaur. Some may argue the Scrotumasaur is a mythical creature of folklore whose very existence is questionable, like the Amoebicorn (an amoeba with a very small horn attached to it) or the Completely Sane Highly Intelligent Hot Chick With No Issues.

Now I don't care who you are, thats funny :D :D :D

a picture of the whole khukuri would be nice...

i think it's Hanuman the monkey god...popular decoration on khukuris:

hanuman was once tasked to retrieve a medicinal herb to cure one of the other gods. hence the monkey followed by the herbal design and the sun/moon. apparently he brought back the whole mountain rather than just the herbs.

I guess I could see that. We could be monkeying around with it. :D

Well thankyou for all your imput! It's nice to get other peoples thoughts on the subject. To me it will always be a scrotumasaur now! ( thought that was a just a medical condition)
:D

There is a similarity to Bhushan's photo, I wonder if that is also Hanuman? The hands and toes seem very monkey-like. It certainly fits with the story of the herbs and sun on the blade too. I think we have a winner! Although Fearn's squashed mouse was a close second.

scrotumasuar! I love it!

More pics as requested!

Are I see Bhushan beat me to it, while I was typing!

I like the reasoning Kronkew! & as for Hanuman if that what you see thats what it is for you :) , but this old symbol on My old chupri bayonet is a recognised historical symbol of a lion holding the Nepalese flag found on many old Nepalese arms,flags etc.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/qwer3/009-1-1.jpg

Heres another version of it,{without the typicle Nepali flag shape.}From the old Nepalese Royal standard.

http://flagspot.net/images/n/np_rl.gif

So I wonder if the "hanuman" on the other kukri is actualy the same symbol as well? Its hard to be be certain of that one, though{IMHO}. Although it does look very monkey like to me as well. {Which for some people in Nepal would also be doubly auspicious if you can see both things in it! ;) }

But all these questians & wonderings are part of the fun of kukri!

spiral