Jawa Dapurs and Wayang Figures

[Rick]

I ran across this page a while back and found it interesting :
http://www.nikhef.nl/~tonvr/keris/keris2/keris01.html

The author states :
" Not only do wayang characters have special Kerises, but Dapur Keris are also named after wayang characters: e.g. Dapur Karna Tinanding, Semar Tinandhu and so on. "

I'd love to see some examples of these Wayang Kerisses ; who's got one and can you explain the connection and the features that determine it ?

[A. G. Maisey]

Here`s a pasopati.

Dapur determined by ricikan, which are:- kembang kacang pogok,two lambe gajah ,two sogokan, ri pandhan and gusen.

The wayang connection is only in name.

Arjuna had a magical weapon, that was an arrow, and it was named "pasopati".

[Alam Shah]

Here's a Pandawa Karna Tinandhing

The ricikan includes, an elaborate ganja kelap lintah with elaborate greneng works. A bungkul, a sogokan depan and belakang, 2 pejetan, 1 lambe gajah on both sides, 2 jalu memet on both sides, 2 belalai gajah (or kembang kacang) and a set of pudak sategal (normally bungkem).

No magical weapon, just the dapur, with a philosophy to commemorate Karna sacrifice.

Karna remains a tragic figure. A brave hero, a courageous spirit who braved impossible odds in his whole life, and died with terrifying courage, valor and honor and to rise to immortality in fame.

[Alam Shah]

Here's a Karna Tinandhing.

The dapur is a straight bladed type.

The ricikan are similar to the pandawa karna tinandhing, minus the pudak sategal and is using ganja sepang.

From Simatua's Collection...
http://www.kampungnet.com.sg/albums/...5_00.sized.jpg

[Ria]

Alan, Alam Syah
Thank you for sharing the pictures.

Alan,
I supposed that Pasopati is yours. I could noticed clearly the border of gusen and kruwingan, almost to the tip of blade. I guess, the gonjo should be perfect fit with Surakarta? Pamor material, meteorite?

Regards,

Ria

[A. G. Maisey]

Yes Pak Ria, my work.

The definition in the pics is not quite good enough to see all the close detail. I intend to put this and some other modern pieces up on my site within a month or so, and I can put bigger pics up there.

The gonjo is Surakarta, but I didn't cut the rondha very well. There are many better examples of Surakarta rondha than appear on this blade.

No, this is not a meteorite blade, it is ordinary commercial nickel from Europe, welded with some unknown ferric material---probably iron from an old bridge.

[Pusaka]

What I would be interested to know is do wayang figures each have their own pamor types?

[Boedhi Adhitya]

Hi Pusaka,

I've checked it in paper about Tosan Aji in Wayang by Ki Dalang RM Wisnu Wardhana, presented in 1997. Wardhana didn't associate any pamor to any wayang character, the reason is, he stated, the wayang character's keris/pusaka are heaven gifts, made by praying, thus without forging and had no pamor, consequently. But as we know, each dalang may have their own interpretation, but within the 'pakem', no pamor attributed to any wayang character.

[Pusaka]

HI Boedhi Adhitya,

Thank you for the information, I just thought that because the wayang figures each have different personalities they might also have different pamor keris.

[Rick]

So at this point we have two Wayang figures represented in dapur .
Are there any more ?
I have heard that there are some figures expressed in Javanese ukiran ; could we see some of those ?

Is this representative of one of the Pandawa brothers ?

[A. G. Maisey]

Actually, the connection between the keris, and wayang characters is not quite so simple and straight forward as there being a pamor, or dapur that equates to a character, nor is this the case with handles.

Its much more indirect and obscure than that.

In times past, and still today, to a degree, the wayang permeated Javanese life and thought. People themselves are likened to wayang characters, either because of their physical characteristics, or their natures, or their habits or way of life. People will often have nicknames that are the names of wayang characters, because of these percieved similarities with wayang characters.Even things that happen during the course of a day, or more importantly political or high level social occurrences , will be likened to parrallel happenings in the wayang.

In his recently published book, Haryono Haryoguritno provides a list of keris terms from the wayang stories. These terms refer to various dapurs and handle shapes, however, to understand why they refer to these forms one really needs an understanding of the wayang.

My own understanding of the wayang is slight, but what is obvious in the handle forms with wayang associated names, is that the overall form of the handle resembles the overall form of the wayang character, so it seems that here was another example of the form being created, and then named in accordance with the Javanese propensity to liken things in this world, to things in the world of the wayang.

To understand the reasons for wayang related names being given to various dapurs and handle shapes could prove an interesting and rewarding study. For instance, in his list, Haryono Haryoguritno gives the names of seven keris dapur, all containing the word "pandhawa" . The pandhawa (pandowo, pandawa, pandava) were the five Pandu princes, sons of King Pandu, who was the brother of Dritarastra. Note:- five brothers. All these keris dapur have five luk (waves).

Possibly the dapur pasopati is the most well known as having a wayang association, but this does not mean that it is a direct association. Pasopati was the arrow of Arjuna (one of the Pandu princes),that he was given by Siwa (Siva) and that he used with the bow gandiwa that he had been given by the god Agni. According to belief, this arrow had the form of wulan tumanggal, which is an arrow with a wide, crescent shaped head.

Now, how did a keris dapur get likened to an arrow with a crescent shaped head?

I do not know, but a careful study of the dapur pasopati might suggest some reasons:- possibly because although this is a straight keris form, it ideally has a slight forward curve---perhaps this is suggestive of the shape of the arrow head; possibly because the kembang kacang puguk is suggestive of a curve; possibly because the line between kembang kacang and tungkakan presents a curve---possibly, possibly, possibly.

We do not know why the keris dapur pasopati was called pasopati, but you can put hard money on it that it was not a haphazard choice of name. There would be a physical similarity somewhere in the first keris of this dapur that suggested the form of pasopati.

As I have already stated, my own knowledge of the wayang is only very slight, but for a person with a good knowledge of the wayang, and a good knowledge of the keris, it would be possible to provide logical and supportable reasons as to why various dapurs and handle shapes have been given names associated with the wayang.

[Alam Shah]

Originally Posted by Rick

So at this point we have two Wayang figures represented in dapur .
Are there any more ?
I have heard that there are some figures expressed in Javanese ukiran ; could we see some of those ?

Is this representative of one of the Pandawa brothers ?

Rick, your example is a representative of Semar.
See the similarities and the profile of the body.
http://www.chicagogamelan.org/wayang/Images/Semar.jpg