Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

A. G. Maisey · 21st December 2022, 08:29 PM

It seems that there is ongoing interest in just what sort of person might have originally had possession of this keris that Anthony now has.

So let us seriously address that question.

In (I believe) 1978 it was suggested to me by a Balinese Brahman that the waves in a keris blade mirrored the hierarchical status of the bearer of that keris, as expressed in the number of roofs on his family temple, and on his cremation tower (bade).

This number also relates to one of the deities of the Hindu Trinity:-

Siwa has 11 roofs, and a consecrated king is also entitled to 11 roofs on his personal family temple.

Brahma & Wisnu both have 9 roofs and and high ranking nobles --- ie, members of the Triwangsa:- Brahmana, K'satriya, Wesia --- are entitled to have between 5 roofs and 9 roofs on their family temples, the actual number of roofs depends upon "where they sit" in the hierarchy.

Lesser deities have between 1 roof and 3 roofs, and members of the Sudra caste are entitled to between 1 roof and 3 roofs on their family temples.

( I have been given several different interpretations of roof readings the one above seems to be the most popular, the second most popular appears to be:- royal family 11, high ranking nobles 7 & 9, lesser nobles 3 & 5, Sudra no roofs)

Now, to relate this to the keris we need to ignore the Islamic luk count which is presently in vogue and return to the method of count that counts only the actual waves in the blade, we forget all about the two nominal waves, one directly above the gandhik, and one at the tip of the blade on the same side of the blade as the gandhik:- the imaginary luk.

To count the true number of luk in the blade we begin the count directly above the wadidang and progress along the blade to complete the count on the same side as the wadidang. This method of count will produce a number that is 2 less than the Islamic count.

Thus, if we apply this method of count to Anthony's keris we have a luk count of 9.

A keris with 9 luk relates to Brahma and Wisnu, and thus to a member of the Brahmana, K'satriya and Wesia castes who occupies a high place in the social hierarchy.

If Anthony was told that this keris was one reserved for royalty then whoever told him that did in fact know that 11 is the number above which the luk in a legitimate Balinese keris cannot progress, but that person had reached the number of 11 by applying the illegitimate --- but popular --- Islamic count. When we apply the correct method of count that counts only true luk then we do come to a number (9) which is absolutely believable for a keris of this quality.

My previous posts on this were dictated by time, and in any case, I felt that it was not really necessary for me to provide a more or less complete explanation, because that explanation is already out there, and any serious student of the keris would, I am sure, already have read it.

21st December 2022, 08:29 PM	#29
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,965	It seems that there is ongoing interest in just what sort of person might have originally had possession of this keris that Anthony now has. So let us seriously address that question. In (I believe) 1978 it was suggested to me by a Balinese Brahman that the waves in a keris blade mirrored the hierarchical status of the bearer of that keris, as expressed in the number of roofs on his family temple, and on his cremation tower (bade). This number also relates to one of the deities of the Hindu Trinity:- Siwa has 11 roofs, and a consecrated king is also entitled to 11 roofs on his personal family temple. Brahma & Wisnu both have 9 roofs and and high ranking nobles --- ie, members of the Triwangsa:- Brahmana, K'satriya, Wesia --- are entitled to have between 5 roofs and 9 roofs on their family temples, the actual number of roofs depends upon "where they sit" in the hierarchy. Lesser deities have between 1 roof and 3 roofs, and members of the Sudra caste are entitled to between 1 roof and 3 roofs on their family temples. ( I have been given several different interpretations of roof readings the one above seems to be the most popular, the second most popular appears to be:- royal family 11, high ranking nobles 7 & 9, lesser nobles 3 & 5, Sudra no roofs) Now, to relate this to the keris we need to ignore the Islamic luk count which is presently in vogue and return to the method of count that counts only the actual waves in the blade, we forget all about the two nominal waves, one directly above the gandhik, and one at the tip of the blade on the same side of the blade as the gandhik:- the imaginary luk. To count the true number of luk in the blade we begin the count directly above the wadidang and progress along the blade to complete the count on the same side as the wadidang. This method of count will produce a number that is 2 less than the Islamic count. Thus, if we apply this method of count to Anthony's keris we have a luk count of 9. A keris with 9 luk relates to Brahma and Wisnu, and thus to a member of the Brahmana, K'satriya and Wesia castes who occupies a high place in the social hierarchy. If Anthony was told that this keris was one reserved for royalty then whoever told him that did in fact know that 11 is the number above which the luk in a legitimate Balinese keris cannot progress, but that person had reached the number of 11 by applying the illegitimate --- but popular --- Islamic count. When we apply the correct method of count that counts only true luk then we do come to a number (9) which is absolutely believable for a keris of this quality. My previous posts on this were dictated by time, and in any case, I felt that it was not really necessary for me to provide a more or less complete explanation, because that explanation is already out there, and any serious student of the keris would, I am sure, already have read it.