A Mythological Creature

[Anthony G.]

What do you know about of this creature found in Indonesia?

[JustYS]

Hi Anthony,

I believe this is from Keraton Cirebon, it is called Paksi (Bird) Naga (Dragon) Liman (Elephant).

[A. G. Maisey]

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[A. G. Maisey]

It's not a single creature, it is actually a carriage, ie, a horse drawn carriage, & as JYS says, it is kept at the kraton in Cirebon.

The symbolism is as JYS has told us, but the peksi supposedly represents Garuda.

It is pretty old, I think it was built in the 15th century.

I do not know, but I believe that the three icons of naga - elephant - Garuda were probably intended to represent the three layers of the world:- lower (naga), middle(elephant), upper (Garuda). When combined into a vehicle for the ruler this could be understood as the Sultan's dominance over the world, or maybe the cosmos.

These old boys did not do things just for fun, the carriage was an investment in symbolism that was meant to carry a message to the populace.

Then of course we have that trisula thingy.

Messages everywhere.

[Anthony G.]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

It's not a single creature, it is actually a carriage, ie, a horse drawn carriage, & as JYS says, it is kept at the kraton in Cirebon.

The symbolism is as JYS has told us, but the peksi supposedly represents Garuda.

It is pretty old, I think it was built in the 15th century.

I do not know, but I believe that the three icons of naga - elephant - Garuda were probably intended to represent the three layers of the world:- lower (naga), middle(elephant), upper (Garuda). When combined into a vehicle for the ruler this could be understood as the Sultan's dominance over the world, or maybe the cosmos.

These old boys did not do things just for fun, the carriage was an investment in symbolism that was meant to carry a message to the populace.

Then of course we have that trisula thingy.

Messages everywhere.

Thanks for the detailed valuable info.

[Gustav]

The carriage depicted in initial post is actually the Singhabarwang, with full title Singhabarwang Penambahan Pakungwati. There are three carriages, which still exist, and are claimed to have belonged to the old Pakungwati Kraton - Singhabarwang, Jempana Setia and Paksinagaliman. When the court was split in Kasepuhan and Kanoman, Kasepuhan got the Singhabarwang, Kanoman the other two. Paksinagaliman from Kraton Kanoman is actually more archaic and could be older.

The more realistic date for Singhabarwang is 1549.

[A. G. Maisey]

That is very interesting information Gustav.

May I ask your source?

Regrettably, I do not have a published source for the name I have used, I was given this name for the carriage by an abdi dalem of the kraton when I visited in about 1976.

My informant could well have been wrong, but if he was, there are a lot of people in Cirebon who were & are wrong along with him.

Your information could well be correct, but photos of the carriages you mention, and your information sources would do a lot help us form some sort of solid opinion.

When I look at the name "Singhabarwang Penambahan Pakuwati" and I break it into its component parts:- singha bar-wang Penambahan Pakuwati, this sort of seems to be a name that can be understood in a couple of ways, "singha" = "lion", "bar" as a prefix indicates "pouring out" or maybe "ceaselessly pouring out", "wang" = "money", "Panembahan" is a royal title, the root is "sembah" = a gesture of high respect, so somebody with the title "Panembahan" is somebody worthy of high respect, usually understood as a prince, "Pakuwati" in this Cirebon context would i think refer to Dalem Agung Pakuwati (or Pakungwati).

If we look closely at this "Singhabarwang" carriage, what we find is that an alternate name for it in Cirebon is "Kereta Singho Barong" (kereta = carriage) (singho+barong = a male lion).

I cannot help but feel that the name "singhobarwang" is a play on words.

EDIT

Probably something else I should add to this post.

I was told that the wings in this figure were representative of Garuda, but not long ago, certainly within the last ten years, I was talking about things Cirebon with a gentleman I bumped into in Bali, and who was the brother-in-law of somebody I knew very well indeed many years ago, this gentleman in Bali was Muslim and according to him, the wings on this carriage figure were not representative of Garuda at all, but rather the body was representative of the Buraq and of course, the Buraq has wings.

This would make more sense than Garuda I think, since this kraton is Islamic.