BLING

[A. G. Maisey]

Roland, this motif is upside down in the larger image, I've cropped it and turned it right way up.

It is the Karang Bintulu motif.

This is a common "fill" motif in Balinese art, the motif consists of a bulging eye above a row of teeth and tusks, above the eye we usually find a mountain. The eye and teeth relate back to the well known Kala or Bhoma motif that we find above gateways, the mountain or rock relates back to the Gunungan, a foundation motif of indigenous belief. F. Bosch believed that the Kala motif was influenced by Surya (The Sun).

In this representation of the Karang Bintulu the Gunungan form is rendered in a form that resembles flames, so the flames are probably indicative of the influence of Surya.

Since the bintulu relates to Bhoma, and Bhoma is a protective motif, the bintulu can also be interpreted as a protective motif, even though it is only a fill motif, never a dominant motif.

The Gunungan motif is perhaps the most frequently encountered motif in Indonesian art, it combines references to Mt. Meru (dwelling place of the Gods), Siwa, The Ancestors, the Meru (the Balinese multi roofed shrine) and combined with a Bhoma reference it completes the foundation stone of Balinese/ Javanese traditional belief, as Bhoma, who is the son of Wisnu and Basundari, is the child of water and of earth, since water and earth result is plant growth, and plant growth for farmers is essential for prosperity, Bhoma is protective of earthly well being. Balinese are mostly farmers.