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.

[JustYS]

Thank you Alan and Gustav for you further explanations.

I’ve made further research and found the following link

http://disbudparporakabcirebon.blogs...ga-barong.html

It is in Indonesian, so I just give a summary:

- Singa Barong was made in 1649 and used by the Sultan
- Paksi Naga Liman was made in 1428 and used by Sunan Gunung Jati
- Both symbolize 3 animals: Paksi (Bouraq, represents Egypt/Islam), Naga (Dragon, represents China/Buddhism), Liman (Elephant, represents India/Hinduism).

Attached the picture of both carriages, in one of them is written Paksi Naga Liman

[A. G. Maisey]

Good stuff YS.

Looks like Anthony's carriage is definitely not what I thought it was --- similar, but not the same.

But it also looks like its a Singo Barong, not a Singo Barwang.

I still think we've got a play on words.

[Gustav]

Barwang = Barong, both names are used, and I guess Barwang is/was the local spelling.

Helen Ibbitson Jessup gives the date for Singhabarwang as 1549, at another place 16th cent. Of course it could be an error (which some other writers, like James Bennett in "Talismanic Seeing: The Induction of Power in Indonesian Zoomorphic Art", have repeated). Of course the carriage was refurbished many times, last time in 1910.

[Anthony G.]

Originally Posted by JustYS

Thank you Alan and Gustav for you further explanations.

I’ve made further research and found the following link

http://disbudparporakabcirebon.blogs...ga-barong.html

It is in Indonesian, so I just give a summary:

- Singa Barong was made in 1649 and used by the Sultan
- Paksi Naga Liman was made in 1428 and used by Sunan Gunung Jati
- Both symbolize 3 animals: Paksi (Bouraq, represents Egypt/Islam), Naga (Dragon, represents China/Buddhism), Liman (Elephant, represents India/Hinduism).

Attached the picture of both carriages, in one of them is written Paksi Naga Liman

Interesting, I must visit this place when I have the opportunities in future.

[Gustav]

It is more likely, as I understand now, that the error (1549 CE versus 1649 CE) is made in the internet article.

[A. G. Maisey]

Thanks for that Gustav.

I do have a few of Jessup's books, she is a good writer & she produces pretty interesting books, but like all of us, she does make the occasional error, and she has been flim-flamed on more than one occasion.

I had a look at her notes on the carriage, and what she says is this:-

"Its full title is Singhabarwang Penambahan Pakuwati, meaning the lion commander of Pakuwati; both singha and barwang (barong) mean lion."

I cannot understand the name in this way.

I do not have much knowledge of Cirebon, just the general things that everybody knows, it is a town that has a very multi cultural population and a number of languages are used there, including the Cirebon dialect of Javanese & of Sundanese.

I read the name "Singhabarwang Penambahan Pakuwati" as if it was Sundanese, I struggle with Sundanese, but I thought that this name was Sundanese because I did not know the word "barwang" as Javanese, and when I ran this name past a native speaker of Sundanese he offered that "barwang" was probably bar + wang --- as I commented in post #7, and that this might be understood in the way I have noted.

Now Gustav has directed us to Jessup's notes in "Court Arts of Indonesia" and when I read these notes I had strong disagreement with Jessup's translation, simply because the word "panembahan" does not mean, and cannot be understood as "commander" this word is Javanese and it is a princely title, thus, as it precedes a proper name, it is the title applied to Pakuwati, ie, Panembahan Pakuwati.

Panembahan Pakuwati (or Pakungwati) was a descendant of Sunan Jati and he built a new kraton in Cirebon.

So, at that point I got off my backside and started to look at references instead of just writing what was already in my head.

Jessup tells us that the word "barwang" means "barong".

Well, it does not.

I did not know the word in Javanese, I assumed it was Sundanese, but I could not find it in a Sundanese dictionary, I could not find it in my little pocket Javanese dictionary either, and a native speaker of Sundanese had made sense of it as I have explained.

However, when I went to a solid, academic dictionary of Javanese (Balai Bahasa Jogjakarta) I did find "barwang", it is Krama and the meaning is given as "bruwang". Now, here was another word I did not know : "bruwang", so I went to the Balai Pustaka entry for "bruwang", which is Krama Inggil, and what I found was this:-

"Arane kewan galak awulu kandel bisa ngadeg kanthi sikel loro, congore dawa"

I translate this as:-

"A wild animal with thick fur, can stand on two legs, it has a long snout"

This is a description that perfectly fits a bear. The Bahasa Indonesia word for "bear" is "beruang". Essentially the same word, and spoken, it is difficult to differentiate between the two words.

The word "barwang" does not mean "barong", nor does it mean "lion".

The word "panembahan" does not mean "commander".

The two words "singha" and "barong", whether placed together as a single word, or separated into two words does mean "male lion".

Jessup's translation was wrong, this "Singhabarong Penambahan Pakuwati" in English is "Penambahan Pakuwati's Lion Carriage". ( in English the word "lion" is male, the female is "lioness", & in the Javanese title the word "kereta" (carriage) is understood)

Spellings can vary.

Looking at this title it is a bit difficult for me to understand why the carriage is named thus.

Just guessing, but I feel that this name might be drawing upon the Cirebon "Macan Ali" symbol which I have been told is also referred to as "Singha Barwang", there is strong lion symbolism in Islam, but perhaps the strongest is the "Lion of God", Asadullah (Hazrat Ali), which in Cirebon becomes "Macan Ali", a tiger instead of a lion.

So why is this carriage also named as "barwang"? Bears have got nothing at all to do with it.

Even after all this analysis, there is still no sense in it, and I am still inclined to think we might have a little bit of grass-roots humorous comment in this name, and that humorous tag has lasted.

Anyway, my initial naming was close, but not close enough, I honestly forget exactly what I saw 40 odd years ago, but since I was told it was Peksi Naga Liman, it probably was. I did not know there were three of these carriages.

I wonder where the third one is.

[Gustav]

Alan, thank you for disclosing the obvious and regrettable shortcomings of Helen Ibbitson Jessup's translation of the title "Singhabarwang Penambahan Pakungwati" (where she apparently mixed up "Panembahan" and "(Panembahan) Senopati") and "Barwang" or "Barong" as lion.

However I cannot follow you when you write:

Jessup tells us that the word "barwang" means "barong".

Well, it does not.

A quick look in Zoetmulder, p. 220 tells us - "Barwang, Barong bear; the honey-bear, Ursus malayanus"

and below:

"Arjunawijaya 10.14: singha barwang alayu (often in this combination, which later became one concept: Modern Javanese singabarong); Sutasoma 134.1c; Bharatayuddha 9.3; 46. 14; Tantri Kamandaka etc."

In Banten the ending -ong is spelled as -wang, so Barong, Kalong, Balong and Katong becomes Barwang, Kalwang, Balwang and Katwang (I have no proof it also applies for Cirebon dialect, but this surely is a possibility, as it is an archaic form). I wonder the native speaker of Sundanese couldn't make a sense of it.

But that all doesn't change the fact the carriage depicted in initial post is Singhabarwang, not Paksinagaliman, and it most likely wasn't built in 15th cent.

If you wonder where the third one is - it is in stored besides Paksinagaliman in Kanoman for long time already, and we actually see it in the picture in #8 behind Paksinagaliman. So, if you would have seen Paksinagaliman indeed, you would have seen (or the abdi dalem would have shown you) also the Jempana Setia.

[JustYS]

Hi Gustav,

Thank you for your further explanation.

I’m not an expert in language but as an Indonesian I always understood Singa Barong as Lion (Singa) with mane (Barong) aka male lion.

Now you’ve quoted Zoetmulder:

“Barwang, Barong bear; the honey-bear, Ursus malayanus"

This for me means that the word Barwang means Male Bear, but I can be wrong.

You are correct that the 3rd carriage Jempana is kept in Keraton Kanoman, this carriage is very different to Singabarong and Paksinagaliman. This carriage motif does not represent any animal and was used by the wife of the ruler (queen)

[Gustav]

JustYS,

important is that at least since Arjunawijaya (14th cent.) a combination "singha barwang alayu" appears, is used in other works, and later becomes a Modern Javanese concept "singabarong" - in opinion of Zoetmulder, which, as I understand, is still valid.

There are surely many interpretations of the word Barong in concept Singa Barong.

Jempana was most likely originally a litter, and is notable for its Wadasan-Megamendung carwing. Here the animals are "hidden" in Wadasan motifs - elephants as arm rests and a Kilin (Qilin) behind the seat.

[A. G. Maisey]

Thank you for your further comments Gustav.

Yes, I made some off the cuff comments based on a more than forty year old memory and some casual remarks by an employee of the Cirebon kraton, I also took the easy route and ran a name that had been phrased in Old Javanese past a native speaker of Modern Sundanese.

Maybe I should have spent some time delving into dictionaries and various publications, but I did not, I wrote from memory, I wrote in the moment.

Maybe I should have done some Google searches, I'm sure there is plenty of info about this matter to be found on-line, but I'm not all that interested in old carriages, and I do not have time to spend on endless unverified Google generated information.

My comments were sloppy, and probably indicate my level of interest in this matter.

I agree with your ID of the carriage in question and I do not oppose your dating.

You have given us Jessup as a reference, and I acknowledge that I misunderstood Jessup's bracketed (barong) following the Old Javanese word for a bear, "berwang". Jessup was simply giving us a variation in spelling of the same word, one that she probably drew from Zoetmulder, and one which reflects the pronunciation, or more probably, transliteration of the Javanese use of the Malay "beruang".

That Malay "beruang" is used in a number of languages across the Peninsula & Achipelago. Interestingly Raffles spells the Malay rendition of the word as "bruwang", which is the Modern Javanese and Balinese variation of the Old Javanese "barwang" and its alternative transliteration of "barong".

However, you have now introduced a giant into our conversation.

P.J. Zoetmulder together with his Old Javanese Dictionary.

We do not really dare to argue with Mr. Zoetmulder, we place his dictionary on a similar level to the Bible. Nobody but a fool argues with religious beliefs.

But, and this is a very weighty "but", once we introduce Zoetmulder into a discussion things start to get serious and any further discussion needs to involve a number of languages other than just Old Javanese and Modern Javanese. This further discussion probably needs an in depth understanding of the vagaries & variations in pronunciation of Modern Javanese also.

Some years ago I made some notes on the Singo Barong in preparation for the writing of a paper. Like a lot of things I do, that paper was shelved. I tend to lose interest in publication of things once I have satisfied my own curiosity, so the paper never got written, but I do still have the notes. Part of those notes deals with the formulation of the name "singo barong". To put all of that into this Forum cannot be justified, but I will make a suggestion that any interested parties might like to follow if they do wish to gain some understanding of the name "Singhabarwang".

My suggestion is this:- carry out research upon the progression of the Modern Javanese word "singo/singa" from its Sanscrit roots through Kawi & Old Javanese into Modern Javanese, then look at the various transliterations and translations of the Modern Malay word "beruang" that have produced the variations of this word in a number of Archipelago languages.

Bear in mind that transliteration can follow an established convention, and sometimes no established convention at all, and that words taken from speech can be expressed in Roman text according to the way in which they are heard by the listener.

I believe you would enjoy this journey Gustav, but it will use a fair bit of time to complete it, if indeed it can be completed, I feel that I probably have a little further distance to travel before I am completely satisfied.