Candi Sukuh

A. G. Maisey · 14th November 2016, 09:57 AM

Candi Sukuh is located on the slopes of Mount Lawu, not far from Solo in Central Jawa. It was built in the 1400's. It is important to the study of keris because it gives us a time frame that we can relate to the existence of the keris.

The photo below is a picture of the main structure.

When I began my visits to Candi Sukuh, during the early 1970's, almost no restoration work had been carried out, over the years some work was done and little by little the site came to the appearance that it had up until recently. The area where Candi Sukuh is situated had an almost other worldly air to it, you could enter the surrounds of the Candi and feel as if you were in a spiritual place, and that at any moment you might be transported into another world.

Regrettably, the Candi had been built on a foundation of river sand and loose stones. For years the local people had mined this sand and the smaller stones for their own building needs, and finally the Candi began to sink. In 2014 the government archaeological department decided that Candi Sukuh needed complete restoration which is now well and truly under way. This restoration was necessary in order to preserve an important part of Jawa's historical and artistic heritage, but with the restoration it seems almost certain that the unseen spirit of Candi Sukuh will be lost.

Over many years I've taken a lot of casual photos of Candi Sukuh, and in March 2015, just before the restoration work had commenced I did a complete photographic cover of Candi Sukuh. Some months ago I put together a few web pages from these photos that I had taken, but somehow they got lost in the shuffle. A week or so ago I needed to do some tidy up work on my site and I found the pages that I had misplaced. Below is a link to those pages.

A word of caution:- strictly Muslim people regard Candi Sukuh as obscene, they call it "Candi Cabul" = "Obscene Candi", and by their standards it might be able to be considered so, however, by the standards of those who built it, it is a religious place, not an obscene one.

I suggest that you focus on the weapons displayed, including depictions of early keris, rather than any images which might be likely to cause offence. You will never see Candi Sukuh like this again, the old Candi is finished, a new, totally restored one is on the way, and there is a pic of works in progress below also.

http://www.kerisattosanaji.com/CANDI...OTOSPAGE1.html

mariusgmioc · 14th November 2016, 01:25 PM

Very beautiful place. I hope they will be successful in restoring it to its former glory!

Thank you for sharing this.

PS: Are there more representations of a Keris or there is only the one in the first photos?

GIO · 14th November 2016, 06:35 PM

Many thanks, Alan. A really fascinating place !

A. G. Maisey · 14th November 2016, 10:56 PM

There are a number of carvings with keris stuck into their belts, I've identified perhaps the more obvious one of these in the pages I've linked to.

Here is a pic of another keris, its already in the pages linked to, P.3.

Here is a link to a page in my "Interpretation ---" article that shows the best known Candi Sukuh keris, scroll down, image 14 :-

http://www.kerisattosanaji.com/INTERPRETATIONPAGE3.html

this one is now in Jakarta.

I've visited Candi Sukuh numerous times, in the past, when I have stayed in Jawa my house has been in a village behind Palur, which is at the foot of the climb up to Mt. Lawu, so its even closer than Solo. To find all the keris took me a lot of time, I didn't find them all during one visit, it took a lot of visits and hours of trying to work out shapeless lumps of eroded statuary.

As to "restoring to former glory", I'm confident it will be a very professional restoration, these people have had a lot of experience with that, but as with the local people in the area, I am equally certain that when it has been restored the spirit that was previously in residence will have flown. It will be a beautiful, but empty piece of architecture.

David · 15th November 2016, 05:50 AM

Thanks Alan!

mariusgmioc · 15th November 2016, 07:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Here is a pic of another keris, its already in the pages linked to, P.3.

Thank you Alan for the explanations!

But to me the blade in the last photo looks more like a Pedang than a Kris. An there is also the way it is held in the hand that doesn't seem right for a Keris.

A. G. Maisey · 15th November 2016, 08:28 AM

Marius, when we are dealing with keris history and development it is very important to realise that we must be able to understand what we are looking at in terms that are relevant to the period concerned.

We cannot determine what is, and what is not a keris based upon our view of the keris at the present time, in fact what we call a keris now was probably not the name, or not the only name, for keris-like objects in the period when Old Javanese was the common language.

However, setting aside the historic variation in names, and only considering what we can see in this carving. The overall blade form has the leaf-shaped blade that is a characteristic of the keris, a line provides evidence of a gonjo, the blade base widens as does the base of the keris, this blade base is asymmetric, as is the blade base of most Modern Keris. By any measure this weapon is a keris.

If you consider that it cannot be a keris because of proportion, I ask you to consider the keris of Bali, and the enormous old North coast kerises that were usually tangguh Tuban.

In fact, a keris can also be a pedang, as is the Balinese ligan, and one of the names for a keris is "kadgo", which comes from the Sanscrit and means "sword"; it often forms a part of the Court name given to an empu, as in Empu Pusposukadgo.

In respect of how this keris in the carving is held, I guess that you have in mind the well known rapier style grip that anchors the index finger and thumb into the blumbangan and uses the jejeran only as a locator. This modern Javanese grip is only one of many possible grips that can be used with the keris, it is the usual grip employed in Javanese court dances, and it is the "polite" grip, but a keris can also be used with an overhand grip, like any dagger, it can be used with a hammer grip, it can be used as you see it held in this carving, in fact, the way it is held in this carving echoes the grip used with a Balinese keris when in combat.

The understanding of what is, and what is not a keris is not limited to narrow parameters, the name "keris" can be employed very broadly. However, in this present example broad application is not necessary, this is a keris by any modern measure

14th November 2016, 09:57 AM	#1
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,892	Candi Sukuh Candi Sukuh is located on the slopes of Mount Lawu, not far from Solo in Central Jawa. It was built in the 1400's. It is important to the study of keris because it gives us a time frame that we can relate to the existence of the keris. The photo below is a picture of the main structure. When I began my visits to Candi Sukuh, during the early 1970's, almost no restoration work had been carried out, over the years some work was done and little by little the site came to the appearance that it had up until recently. The area where Candi Sukuh is situated had an almost other worldly air to it, you could enter the surrounds of the Candi and feel as if you were in a spiritual place, and that at any moment you might be transported into another world. Regrettably, the Candi had been built on a foundation of river sand and loose stones. For years the local people had mined this sand and the smaller stones for their own building needs, and finally the Candi began to sink. In 2014 the government archaeological department decided that Candi Sukuh needed complete restoration which is now well and truly under way. This restoration was necessary in order to preserve an important part of Jawa's historical and artistic heritage, but with the restoration it seems almost certain that the unseen spirit of Candi Sukuh will be lost. Over many years I've taken a lot of casual photos of Candi Sukuh, and in March 2015, just before the restoration work had commenced I did a complete photographic cover of Candi Sukuh. Some months ago I put together a few web pages from these photos that I had taken, but somehow they got lost in the shuffle. A week or so ago I needed to do some tidy up work on my site and I found the pages that I had misplaced. Below is a link to those pages. A word of caution:- strictly Muslim people regard Candi Sukuh as obscene, they call it "Candi Cabul" = "Obscene Candi", and by their standards it might be able to be considered so, however, by the standards of those who built it, it is a religious place, not an obscene one. I suggest that you focus on the weapons displayed, including depictions of early keris, rather than any images which might be likely to cause offence. You will never see Candi Sukuh like this again, the old Candi is finished, a new, totally restored one is on the way, and there is a pic of works in progress below also. http://www.kerisattosanaji.com/CANDI...OTOSPAGE1.html Attached Images

14th November 2016, 10:56 PM	#4
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,892	There are a number of carvings with keris stuck into their belts, I've identified perhaps the more obvious one of these in the pages I've linked to. Here is a pic of another keris, its already in the pages linked to, P.3. Here is a link to a page in my "Interpretation ---" article that shows the best known Candi Sukuh keris, scroll down, image 14 :- http://www.kerisattosanaji.com/INTERPRETATIONPAGE3.html this one is now in Jakarta. I've visited Candi Sukuh numerous times, in the past, when I have stayed in Jawa my house has been in a village behind Palur, which is at the foot of the climb up to Mt. Lawu, so its even closer than Solo. To find all the keris took me a lot of time, I didn't find them all during one visit, it took a lot of visits and hours of trying to work out shapeless lumps of eroded statuary. As to "restoring to former glory", I'm confident it will be a very professional restoration, these people have had a lot of experience with that, but as with the local people in the area, I am equally certain that when it has been restored the spirit that was previously in residence will have flown. It will be a beautiful, but empty piece of architecture. Attached Images

14th November 2016, 01:25 PM	#2
mariusgmioc Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Austria Posts: 1,903	Very beautiful place. I hope they will be successful in restoring it to its former glory! Thank you for sharing this. PS: Are there more representations of a Keris or there is only the one in the first photos?

14th November 2016, 06:35 PM	#3
GIO Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 313	Many thanks, Alan. A really fascinating place !

15th November 2016, 05:50 AM	#5
David Keris forum moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 7,124	Thanks Alan!

15th November 2016, 08:28 AM	#7
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,892	Marius, when we are dealing with keris history and development it is very important to realise that we must be able to understand what we are looking at in terms that are relevant to the period concerned. We cannot determine what is, and what is not a keris based upon our view of the keris at the present time, in fact what we call a keris now was probably not the name, or not the only name, for keris-like objects in the period when Old Javanese was the common language. However, setting aside the historic variation in names, and only considering what we can see in this carving. The overall blade form has the leaf-shaped blade that is a characteristic of the keris, a line provides evidence of a gonjo, the blade base widens as does the base of the keris, this blade base is asymmetric, as is the blade base of most Modern Keris. By any measure this weapon is a keris. If you consider that it cannot be a keris because of proportion, I ask you to consider the keris of Bali, and the enormous old North coast kerises that were usually tangguh Tuban. In fact, a keris can also be a pedang, as is the Balinese ligan, and one of the names for a keris is "kadgo", which comes from the Sanscrit and means "sword"; it often forms a part of the Court name given to an empu, as in Empu Pusposukadgo. In respect of how this keris in the carving is held, I guess that you have in mind the well known rapier style grip that anchors the index finger and thumb into the blumbangan and uses the jejeran only as a locator. This modern Javanese grip is only one of many possible grips that can be used with the keris, it is the usual grip employed in Javanese court dances, and it is the "polite" grip, but a keris can also be used with an overhand grip, like any dagger, it can be used with a hammer grip, it can be used as you see it held in this carving, in fact, the way it is held in this carving echoes the grip used with a Balinese keris when in combat. The understanding of what is, and what is not a keris is not limited to narrow parameters, the name "keris" can be employed very broadly. However, in this present example broad application is not necessary, this is a keris by any modern measure