Moro hilt, a question of region.

[Maurice]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

Actually though, with my new found interest in these, I am curious about these bells mounted on the guard...I understand these are called 'tiger bells'?
I would presume these have some sort of talismanic or auspicious purpose, but can anyone out there be more specific?

These Tiger bells were found all over Asia, from Pakistan to Siberia to Indonesia.
I think the bell's attached on weapons, should serve as amulets.

Besides amulets, tiger bells were used as musical instruments, animal bells (horse bells and cat bells, dogs bells and yak bells), shamanism, dance bells, amulets on wayang puppets, money.

I got it from this internet source. A lot more written about tiger bells can be found there: http://park.org/Guests/Tiger/bells.htm




Maurice