Five elements in a mendahk, is it magic?

[David]

It could just be that it is not photographed well enough, but the mendhak shown in the close-up does not look like the same mendhak you show in the photo with the 3 other keris. I probably is, but the one shown in the last photo looks much more crushed and i cannot see the ring with the granular beads around the edge that is closest to the blade.
What Rick has stated is most probably true, that these objects were placed in there for a talismanic purpose. Possibly there is something written on the folded paper. However, even if we knew exactly what each of these items were there is no guarantee that would lead us to a clear conclusion as to the exact purpose of this act. In most cases talismans like this offer a protective agency, but the specifics reasons for this would almost certainly be personal and known only to the original owner of the keris.
As for the hilt, it is not a form i am particularly familiar with, but IP has taken some good guesses. I don't think it is Sumatran though. Possibly East or North Jawa. What little i can see of the blade suggests East Jawa/Madura. I think we can rule out a demon or a god, and for me i don't see a wizard here. The body has been abstracted so it is difficult to know what body position the figure is striking (standing, crouching, etc.).
If you can provide better, more detailed photos of the hilt showing all sides of it then people might be able to make a better assessment.

[Interested Party]

Originally Posted by David

I don't think it is Sumatran though. Possibly East or North Jawa. What little i can see of the blade suggests East Jawa/Madura. I think we can rule out a demon or a god, and for me i don't see a wizard here. The body has been abstracted so it is difficult to know what body position the figure is striking (standing, crouching, etc.).

Thank you David. I am flattered. Especially as I didn't have time to comb through and cite references. East or North Jawa is exactly what I was getting at. If I remember correctly North Jawa and Sumatra influenced each other's hilts and something about the cut of the spirals made me think not Sumatra but Sumatran influence.

A front, back, and other side shot of the hilt would be very useful.

[HughChen]

Originally Posted by David

It could just be that it is not photographed well enough, but the mendhak shown in the close-up does not look like the same mendhak you show in the photo with the 3 other keris. I probably is, but the one shown in the last photo looks much more crushed and i cannot see the ring with the granular beads around the edge that is closest to the blade.
What Rick has stated is most probably true, that these objects were placed in there for a talismanic purpose. Possibly there is something written on the folded paper. However, even if we knew exactly what each of these items were there is no guarantee that would lead us to a clear conclusion as to the exact purpose of this act. In most cases talismans like this offer a protective agency, but the specifics reasons for this would almost certainly be personal and known only to the original owner of the keris.
As for the hilt, it is not a form i am particularly familiar with, but IP has taken some good guesses. I don't think it is Sumatran though. Possibly East or North Jawa. What little i can see of the blade suggests East Jawa/Madura. I think we can rule out a demon or a god, and for me i don't see a wizard here. The body has been abstracted so it is difficult to know what body position the figure is striking (standing, crouching, etc.).
If you can provide better, more detailed photos of the hilt showing all sides of it then people might be able to make a better assessment.

Sorry David, the mendahk has been repaired. In the picture with several keris it hadn't been repaired and was squeezed。

[HughChen]

more pics

[A. G. Maisey]

Perhaps these little bits of material were put in place in order to achieve a neat mating of the mendak to the hilt.

[milandro]

We will probably never know what the meaning of those objects in the mendak is.

These probably represent personal convictions or superstitions which have meaning only to one person who has the key to interpreter this personal ritual as opposed to codified and established ritualised symbols which a whole group understands and would recognise.

On a general term neither the mendak nor the kris seem to be , otherwise, especially noteworthy. The hilt too, while nicely carved , doesn't strike me as being very old or being particularly emblematic of being any special character. Maybe I am wrong but I just don't see it.

[HughChen]

Originally Posted by milandro

We will probably never know what the meaning of those objects in the mendak is.

These probably represent personal convictions or superstitions which have meaning only to one person who has the key to interpreter this personal ritual as opposed to codified and established ritualised symbols which a whole group understands and would recognise.

On a general term neither the mendak nor the kris seem to be , otherwise, especially noteworthy. The hilt too, while nicely carved , doesn't strike me as being very old or being particularly emblematic of being any special character. Maybe I am wrong but I just don't see it.

Maybe that is the only answer. It doesn't belong to any Keris culture, it's something else coincidently happens in a Keris.

[David]

Originally Posted by HughChen

Maybe that is the only answer. It doesn't belong to any Keris culture, it's something else coincidently happens in a Keris.

I would not go so far as to say it doesn't belong to any keris culture just because we cannot absolutely identify who the figure represent. I do agree with Milandro though that this is a more recent, 20th century figural carving and with more recent hilts there is a tendency for them to be less connected to identifiable characters.
Here is a hilt i have which i believe might be North Jawa, though others might have a different origin. It does bear some resemblence to your hilt in that it is an armless and legless figure with some vegetal abstraction, however it does not display the same hair style, but rather the long flowing hair that we generally associate with Buta Bajang hilts.