Keris with a tiger (?) in the blade

[thomas hauschild]

For comments please. Don‘t know if this is a tiger or mythical creature ? Got this keris this week in a bundle with add. 5 keris, the golok and the bichwa, that I posted yet. And this is the best of them. comments will be very welcome.

Best Thomas

[Anthony G.]

Originally Posted by thomas hauschild

For comments please. Don‘t know if this is a tiger or mythical creature ? Got this keris this week in a bundle with add. 5 keris, the golok and the bichwa, that I posted yet. And this is the best of them. comments will be very welcome.

Best Thomas

Singa Barong. Barong is the lord and protector of the forest spirits, he can take on many forms, but is usually depicted in his manifestation as a singa or lion.

[Anthony G.]

On a blade, the singa signifies strength.

[thomas hauschild]

Originally Posted by Anthony G.

Singa Barong. Barong is the lord and protector of the forest spirits, he can take on many forms, but is usually depicted in his manifestation as a singa or lion.

Many thanks Anthony

[Jean]

The carving of the singa looks a bit odd to me (tail, head, etc).
Regards

[A. G. Maisey]

On a keris the Singo Barong can be understood as generally protective. However there are a lot of ways in which this symbolism can be understood.

The word "barong" is understood in Bali as a generic term for a masked figure, and there are many forms of masked figures and more than one way of understanding the idea of "masked". In an abstract sense the word "barong" is understood as a positive force of nature that can work against evil spirits and is usually embodied in an animal.

The most common barong is the Barong Keket, usually abbreviated in speech to Ket : "Barong Ket". This is used as the mask for performance that very possibly has a relationship with the Chinese Lion Dance. A Chinese Lion dance was performed on the South Bali Coast in the 13th century.

If we look at Harsrinuksmo he draws a line from the Singo Barong to the Kilin/Qilin/Kirin. In Jawa the Singo Barong is also known as the Naga Singa, and disparagingly as Kikik (a little long haired dog).

Then we have the temple guardian figures that stand outside temples all over South East Asia and have a number of names depending on the place where they are found.

In Bali the sarcophagus to which a member of the K'satriya caste is entitled is in the form of a winged lion, and many people associate the Keris Singo Barong with the K'satriya caste.

The Singo Barong that we see on a keris almost never has the wings that are associated with the Balinese Singo Barong that is incorporated as a protective device in architecture, and the Singo Barong is also found in Javanese keris, an indication that the roots of the Singo Barong symbolism stretch back into the Hindu-Buda era of Jawa and were transported to Bali with the new arrivals from Mojopahit at the beginning of Islamic domination in Jawa.

There are many strands that relate to the symbolism of the Singo Barong in the keris, it is perhaps wise to regard it as a generally protective device, unless, of course, one wishes to enjoy the lengthy and difficult research of the Singo Barong figure that is specific to the keris.

The understanding of symbolism in Jawa and Bali is not limited to only one understanding, there seems to be an overarching philosophy that the more ways in which something can be understood, the better, and this is not limited to only symbolism, and at least in the case of Jawa, it permeates society as a whole.

[Jean]

Thank you Alan for this very informative comment.

[David]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

On a keris the Singo Barong can be understood as generally protective. However there are a lot of ways in which this symbolism can be understood.

The word "barong" is understood in Bali as a generic term for a masked figure, and there are many forms of masked figures and more than one way of understanding the idea of "masked". In an abstract sense the word "barong" is understood as a positive force of nature that can work against evil spirits and is usually embodied in an animal.

The most common barong is the Barong Keket, usually abbreviated in speech to Ket : "Barong Ket". This is used as the mask for performance that very possibly has a relationship with the Chinese Lion Dance. A Chinese Lion dance was performed on the South Bali Coast in the 13th century.

If we look at Harsrinuksmo he draws a line from the Singo Barong to the Kilin/Qilin/Kirin. In Jawa the Singo Barong is also known as the Naga Singa, and disparagingly as Kikik (a little long haired dog).

Then we have the temple guardian figures that stand outside temples all over South East Asia and have a number of names depending on the place where they are found.

In Bali the sarcophagus to which a member of the K'satriya caste is entitled is in the form of a winged lion, and many people associate the Keris Singo Barong with the K'satriya caste.

The Singo Barong that we see on a keris almost never has the wings that are associated with the Balinese Singo Barong that is incorporated as a protective device in architecture, and the Singo Barong is also found in Javanese keris, an indication that the roots of the Singo Barong symbolism stretch back into the Hindu-Buda era of Jawa and were transported to Bali with the new arrivals from Mojopahit at the beginning of Islamic domination in Jawa.

There are many strands that relate to the symbolism of the Singo Barong in the keris, it is perhaps wise to regard it as a generally protective device, unless, of course, one wishes to enjoy the lengthy and difficult research of the Singo Barong figure that is specific to the keris.

The understanding of symbolism in Jawa and Bali is not limited to only one understanding, there seems to be an overarching philosophy that the more ways in which something can be understood, the better, and this is not limited to only symbolism, and at least in the case of Jawa, it permeates society as a whole.

Alan, i am suddenly encountering the term Singo Ambhara as a name for this winged version of the Singo Barong from Bali. Is this a name you have come across before in association with this symbol on keris? Obviously there is the famous monument in Singaraja which i believe uses this name, built in 1971, but i have never heard the name applied to keris before. Ambhara or Ambara seems to mean "heavens" or "sky" in Hindi.

[A. G. Maisey]

David, I do not know the word "ambhara".

This word "ambhara" is not to be found in Balinese, Javanese, Malay, or Bahasa Indonesia (BI).

It can be found in Sanskrit as "ambara" (Macdonell).

Meanings given (dependent upon context) are:- garment, firmament, sky.

Derivatives are:-

ambarakara:- moving in the air, bird, fairy

ambaramarga:- bird's path, sky

ambarakarin:- planet

ambarapatha:- path in the sky

ambaraprabha:- of a princess

ambaraadhikarin;- groom of the robes

the above has been lifted from A.A. Macdonell's Sanskrit dictionary

"Ambara" can be found in Kawi (literary Javanese) :- atmosphere, uncertain , far off, to wander, to journey

It appears to be known in Indonesian usage as a personal name and a business name.

As a name for the Singo Barong I rather suspect that it is another recent invention.

In a way, this propensity to invent new words and terms for usage with keris is not really a bad thing, language continually develops, and when it stops doing so it becomes a dead language. But from a personal perspective I find this ongoing appearance of strange words just a trifle annoying.

[francantolin]

Originally Posted by Jean

The carving of the singa looks a bit odd to me (tail, head, etc).
Regards

Modern repro ?...

[Jean]

The blade looks old but the singa may have been welded later (no trace of the steel core on the front side of the singa for instance).