Strange koftgari beast on kukri

[Andy Stevens]

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

[fearn]

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

F

[bhushan_lawate]

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

[spiral]

Originally Posted by Andy Stevens

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??

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

[Battara]

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

Interesting creature.......

[laEspadaAncha]

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.

[Robert]

Originally Posted by laEspadaAncha

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

[kronckew]

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.