The Wadon hilt form.

[A. G. Maisey]

A slow Sunday and browsing some past threads.

I met up with the Wadon hilt again.

The Wadon hilt style is characterised by a female form that has the face covered by what might be understood as veil, or cloth, and sometimes with a cloth in one hand.

Well, "Wadon" simply means "Female" in Javanese, and this is the name used by some hilt carvers in Solo, Jawa, for the hilt style that many --- I think mostly European --- keris collectors like to believe is a representation of Durga. I suspect this belief might have been generated by Martin Kerner.

The correct Balinese name for this hilt style is "Balu Mekabun", which is a phrase that means:-

"a widow who has been left with one or more daughters".

So, if we wish to find which Balinese historical or mythical character that this hilt style represents, we need to find a female character who was both a widow and who had been left with one or more daughters.

The candidates for this position according to general non-Bali/Jawa belief would seem to be:-

Durga, Rangda, Calonarang.

Durga:- is one of the names of Devi (Mahadewi), the Sakti, or female energy of Siwa (Shiva), as Durga she is the terrible form of this energy, but Durga also has another nature which is protective & associated with motherhood and strength, the terrible aspect is associated with war & destruction. Many Hindu families have Durga as their household deity.

Durga has four children: two sons: Ganesha, Karrtikeya; two daughters: Laksmi, Saraswati.

Durga became a widow after eating Siwa, her husband, she eventually set Siwa free from her body, whereupon he cursed her, declared her a widow and turned her ugly.

So we can eliminate Durga because although a widow, she had four children, two of whom were sons.

If Durga were to be referred to by an alias, rather than her real name --- something done because of politeness or fear --- then that name might be "Balu Remban" a widow left with many children, it cannot be "Balu Mekabun".

Rangda:- is the Balinese manifestation of female negative energy, queen of the Leyaks ( bad witches -- humans who practice black magic -- real bad news).

Rangda possibly had her origin in the historic Balinese queen Mahendradatta, a Javanese princess who married King Udayana, she practiced black magic and was a devotee of Durga. Mahendradatta had three sons, the eldest of whom was Airlangga:-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airlangga

Rangda was a widow, in fact the word "rangda" means "widow". As Rangda she had no children, rather, she ate children, but as Mahendradatta she had three sons.

We can also eliminate Rangda, because she had either three sons in a previous incarnation, or none as Rangda.

Thus Rangda cannot be referred to as "Balu Mekabun".

Calonarang:- was a widow who had one beautiful daughter, she was a devotee of Durga & she practiced black magic, she fought with Mpu Baradah (in this context "mpu" is an honorific of respect, not denoting an armourer), she lost, died, and was reincarnated as Rangda.

Calonarang is believed by many to be an interpretation of Mahendradatta, there are many similarities in the story of Mahendradatta and Calonarang. This is not to say that Calonarang was Mahendradatta, only that there are similarities between the two.

We cannot eliminate Calonarang:- she was a widow left with one daughter, thus she could be referred to as "Balu Mekabun".

In dance and in artistic representations of both Calonarang and Rangda, they each have a magic cloth that can be used as a weapon, and also to make them invisible. The invisibility is achieved by covering head & face with this magic cloth.

The above is a very simplified & brief outline of the possibilities for attachment of a real name to the Balinese/Javanese hilt form that is known by some as "Wadon".

There are a great many variations to the stories of Mahendradatta, Rangda & Calonarang, the principle characters of these stories tend to merge one into the other, but one major theme does seem to be (relatively) clear, and that is that Rangda did not magically appear out of nowhere, and nor did Calonarang.

A major belief is that Calonarang became Rangda, and the characteristics of Calonarang as a widow with one daughter, together with the characteristics both Calonarang & Rangda as wielders of a magic cloth are characteristics found in "Wadon" hilt form.

My current opinion is that the mythical character represented in the Balinese & Javanese "Wadon" style hilt is Calonarang, the Calonarang story is set in ancient Jawa.

The "Wadon" style hilt cannot be understood as either Durga or Rangda.

[David]

A good analysis Alan. I believe part of the problem here is what i have seen as a tendency to conflate Calonarang with Durga and Rangda. They are all connected in some way, of course, but are certainly different figures with different stories to tell.
Just for illustrative purposes, here is my Balinese Wadon hilt which had been shown on these pages before.

[David]

Alan, i am curious what your thought might be on wadon hilts that do not depict the female character as veiled. Are these part of the same mythos or a different story and character altogether?
This first one is obviously a contemporary hilt, but i have seen antique versions of this form so it does seem to have some cultural legitimacy.
The second is based more on the common Javanese "Durga" form, but has a face made from ivory, so is unlike her veiled sisters.

[A. G. Maisey]

David, in respect of post#2.

Yes, correct, different characters, and as I wrote:-

"--- There are a great many variations to the stories of Mahendradatta, Rangda & Calonarang, the principle characters of these stories tend to merge one into the other, but one major theme does seem to be (relatively) clear, and that is that Rangda did not magically appear out of nowhere, and nor did Calonarang. ---"

This tendency for stories, beliefs, characteristics to merge seems to be something that often happens with historic, and even current ideas & beliefs in both Bali & Jawa.

I feel that this tendency to combine the characteristics & features of one person, or character, or place, or concept might not be limited to only Jawa/Bali, but could be a general human trait that is spread across all humanity.

In respect of Post #3.

I have never given the questions you have raised any thought, David.

I have no answer.

I have never given this any thought