Kala and the carvings on a keris hilt

A. G. Maisey · 17th January 2022, 08:12 PM

That is just my terminology Jaga. Others before me might have used "kala" to refer to these little carvings, I don't know. I could have copied other usage, or it might just be a convenient word that popped into my head at the time.

If you're not comfortable with "kala", just use "demon". In Balinese & Javanese "kala" is one of the generics for "demon". Siwa created two forms of low, earth-bound demons, kalas and bhutas. They are both low ranked entities, and although by nature they are pretty dangerous, unpleasant & disruptive, if you give them the right offerings they can become protective. As protective entities they appear on keris hilts, as well as in monumental images. There are lots of Kalas, even Siwa in one of his aspects is a Kala :- Kala Rudra.

Supposedly the Central Javanese planar hilt first appeared amongst nobles along the North Coast, probably Demak, the earlier Hindu-Buddhist hilt forms that often incorporated figural representations were disappearing under the influence of Islam, and the changes made to these earlier forms were usually achieved by burying the recognisable features of Bhutas & Kalas & other Raksasas & Demons under foliage, so these hilts then became Patra hilts, "patra" is literary (Kawi, Sanscrit) for "leaf". The North Coast and Madura hilts with figures disguised under carvings of foliage are what we finished up with through this substitution.

Somebody around this time thought it would be a good idea if things were simplified by keeping just a vague reference to the Hindu-Buddhist demons, rather than spending time & money on elaboration --- in any case, bling is frowned upon in Islam --- so the foliage was reduced to just a couple of little "leaves" that could be interpreted as the faces of demons. Another way of thinking about this new planar hilt form is that it is just one more of the multitude of changes made to the keris under Islam that were designed to strip the keris of its original cultural, religious & societal nature. If a new philosophy is introduced to a society it is best that the elements of the old philosophy are not swept away, but rather altered to sit more comfortably into the new paradigm.

I think one of the Wali Songo was credited with this initiative, but I forget who. In any case, the Wali himself was unlikely to have actually made the first, it would have been designed & made by people who were under his leadership and administration.

One of the other names for cecekan is "patra" = "leaf".

17th January 2022, 08:12 PM	#2
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,048	That is just my terminology Jaga. Others before me might have used "kala" to refer to these little carvings, I don't know. I could have copied other usage, or it might just be a convenient word that popped into my head at the time. If you're not comfortable with "kala", just use "demon". In Balinese & Javanese "kala" is one of the generics for "demon". Siwa created two forms of low, earth-bound demons, kalas and bhutas. They are both low ranked entities, and although by nature they are pretty dangerous, unpleasant & disruptive, if you give them the right offerings they can become protective. As protective entities they appear on keris hilts, as well as in monumental images. There are lots of Kalas, even Siwa in one of his aspects is a Kala :- Kala Rudra. Supposedly the Central Javanese planar hilt first appeared amongst nobles along the North Coast, probably Demak, the earlier Hindu-Buddhist hilt forms that often incorporated figural representations were disappearing under the influence of Islam, and the changes made to these earlier forms were usually achieved by burying the recognisable features of Bhutas & Kalas & other Raksasas & Demons under foliage, so these hilts then became Patra hilts, "patra" is literary (Kawi, Sanscrit) for "leaf". The North Coast and Madura hilts with figures disguised under carvings of foliage are what we finished up with through this substitution. Somebody around this time thought it would be a good idea if things were simplified by keeping just a vague reference to the Hindu-Buddhist demons, rather than spending time & money on elaboration --- in any case, bling is frowned upon in Islam --- so the foliage was reduced to just a couple of little "leaves" that could be interpreted as the faces of demons. Another way of thinking about this new planar hilt form is that it is just one more of the multitude of changes made to the keris under Islam that were designed to strip the keris of its original cultural, religious & societal nature. If a new philosophy is introduced to a society it is best that the elements of the old philosophy are not swept away, but rather altered to sit more comfortably into the new paradigm. I think one of the Wali Songo was credited with this initiative, but I forget who. In any case, the Wali himself was unlikely to have actually made the first, it would have been designed & made by people who were under his leadership and administration. One of the other names for cecekan is "patra" = "leaf".