View Single Post
Old 3rd September 2007, 07:37 AM   #73
PenangsangII
Member
 
PenangsangII's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 401
Default

Thank you so much Pak Ganja & Alan. Very well said explanation, as always, though I have no idea how to guess what year exactly is Jawanese year 152....

Regarding keris mbesut, as I understand it is an act of resharpening or reconstructing worn out blade, while in normal condition no one would resharpen a keris blade. However, I was shown a keris by a Malay Pandai Keris that there is actually one type of keris that needs to be resharpened every now and then. He called the keris as Keris Kilir that originates from a Malaysian state of Perak. Kilir in Malay means to sharpen. The original profile should not change at all, but the keris itself must be sharp all the time. The keris dapor can be straight or wavy, but I believe the besi used in forging the blade that qualifies to be called keris kilir or otherwise. Very rare but it exists. I'm not sure whether there is any such keris from the rest of the archipelago.
PenangsangII is offline   Reply With Quote