A feature of interest
 

Hello All,

I was in South Sulawesi recently with my Bugis-Makasar friends and acquaintances and talking a lot about keris (and badik) culture and lore and the technical features of kerises in particular which of course is a subject steeped in mysticism of a highly complicated (at least to me) form, to put it mildly.

One feature of interest that was pointed out to me is an area along the edge of a blade of a keris (or badik, and also a trisula) where it seems the pamor intrudes into the edge of the blade itself (the baja), separating the edge into two distinct parts or zones, with a small notch between them. This feature, I was told, is known as sippa sikadoi (I was given several different spelling variations of this term, and cannot recall if this is a Bugis or Makasar word, and it’s possible I have not heard and transcribed it correctly), is very auspicious, considerably enhancing the significance and the value of the blade, and is said by male owners of the keris (or badik etc) to function almost like an an irresistible magnetic force, in particular attracting members of the opposite sex.

I’ve highlighted the feature on a keris.

Does anyone have any more information about this?

In Jawa and Bali too, if the pamor material enters into the edge this is considered to be a flaw in the blade.

When we carve the blade we are supposed to continually check by etching whether the pamor is away from the edge, if it has entered the edge we need to reheat the blade and bend at the point where the pamor enters before we continue with carving.

Some makers now, & in the past, were lazy & did not do the check and adjust step, as a consequence they made sub-standard blades.

Ideally there should be a "frame"of blade steel that surrounds the pamor, if this frame is kept to a uniform width, that is regarded as evidence of the skill of the maker.

Thank you Alan, for this insight.

It strikes me that an apparent fault in the process of blade manufacture is interpreted as a hallmark of quality and esteem by present-day Bugis-Makasar people, or at least the ones I've talked to about this feature in a particular part of South Sulawesi. I wonder what that could mean; and I wonder, among other things, how far back in time this belief about the symbolic importance of this feature goes.

Well Adam, I'm a cynic.

There is no doubt in my mind that flaws and faults in manufacture are interpreted by both makers and sellers as enhancements --- & I'm not only thinking keris here, nor at remote times in the past.

To anybody who understands forge work & the elements of quality blade work, a flaw such as this is a clear indicator of an incompetent smith.

However, to a salesman --- or maybe even the maker himself if he is doing the selling --- it might be interpreted as the Sure & Certain Hand of God.

Yeah.

Right.

Keris knowledge is mostly keris belief, and very few people now or in the past understand the Black Arts of the Forge.