Please post pictures of famous reputed esoteric blades?

[shadejoy]

Originally Posted by David

.. Powerful Balinese keris such as Durga Dingkul and Bangawang Canggu that we do know existed were never returned to the Royal House of Klungkung despite promises..

David, I'm interested in learning more about those two Kerises you mentioned, if you don't mind sharing. Why or how are they considered powerful ..where are they now and what was the circumstances?

[David]

Originally Posted by shadejoy

David, I'm interested in learning more about those two Kerises you mentioned, if you don't mind sharing. Why or how are they considered powerful ..where are they now and what was the circumstances?

I don't want you to think i am blowing off your question, but rather than spend time pulling quotes from this book i an simply going to strongly suggest that you acquire and read Margaret J. Wiener's "Visible and Invisible Realms : Power, Magic, and Colonial Conquest in Bali". It is seriously one of of the best and most important books i know about understanding the keris, especially as it applies to Bali.I always recommend that anybody with an interest in keris should read this book...probably more than once.
The specific powers of these and other important keris are discussed at some length in this book.
These two keris were among the pajenengan keris that were confiscated by colonial powers after the 1908 Klungkung puputan. Pajenengan keris are those that are inherited by a ruler upon their succession to the throne. They were royal regalia. These keris were promised to be returned to Klungkung and then never were. Where they are today is anyones guess.

[shadejoy]

David, thank you.

[A. G. Maisey]

A long time ago, back when I was still in Keris Kindergarten, I was wandering around the environs of the Jogja kraton with a guide and I noted the keris that an abdi dalem who had stopped to talk to us was wearing.

At that time I did not speak nor understand Bahasa Indonesia, and I did not understand one hell of a lot of other things too.

I asked my guide in English if it might be possible for the gentleman who was speaking with us (in Javanese) to let me have a look at his keris. I had in my mind that if this keris measured up to my very ignorant & misguided standards of that time in my life, I would make him an offer for it that he could not refuse.

My guide blanched under his very good natural suntan and carefully explained to me that such a request would be understood by the abdi dalem as an insult, it could make him very angry, and it would be best if I said no more about this subject.

Later in my education I found that serious Javanese people do not permit anybody other than close family and close friends to lay eyes upon a personal keris. By "keris" I mean the blade, it is the blade that is a sacred object, the dress bears a similar relationship to the blade as clothes do to a man.

Photographs of personal keris are anathema. In Javanese culture such requests are invariably refused.

In collector culture, quite the opposite is true.

One either observes the standards of one culture, or of the other.

Personally, I do not permit photographs of my own personal kerises to be seen by people other than those whom I believe will keep the photographs to themselves.

It is generally accepted that it is very unwise to allow others to see a personal keris, or photos of a personal keris, until such time as one takes the decision to move that keris to a new custodian.

[Ganapati]

https://youtu.be/kqLWDd8OisU

YouTube video depicting famous kerises

[Ganapati]

Keris taming sari

https://images.app.goo.gl/9S6xN2aL3wi9UPpF7

[A. G. Maisey]

As I wrote GP:-

Photographs of personal keris are anathema. In Javanese culture such requests are invariably refused.

In collector culture, quite the opposite is true.

Just because somebody is ethnically Javanese, this does not at all mean that they follow the dictates of Javanese tradition or culture.

Just because somebody has a Javanese name, or perhaps looks Javanese this does not mean that they are ethnically Javanese.

My teachers were old school, traditional Javanese.

I personally prefer to accept that which these people taught me than that of which I might find evidence upon the internet.

Others are free to observe whatever standards they might wish to observe.

[Jean]

Originally Posted by Ganapati

https://youtu.be/kqLWDd8OisU

YouTube video depicting famous kerises

They may be famous but I doubt it and the pics are very poor!
Regards

[Rick]

I think we are on a road not worth traveling in this thread.

[David]

Originally Posted by Ganapati

https://youtu.be/kqLWDd8OisU

YouTube video depicting famous kerises

Ganapati, I cannot image that any of the keris shown in this video you posted are particularly "famous" or powerful. I found watching it a waste of time.
Hard to say if the image of keris Taming Sari that you posted is indeed the actual keris of legend. A keris that has been claimed to be the famous Taming Sari has been part of the Perak royal regalia since at least 1907 when it was photographed with some of the other royal regalia. This does look like it could be the same keris that you posted, but whether is is the actual Keris Taming Sari is anyone's guess. According to lore it was given to the Sultan of Malacca, and eventually made its way to the royal regalia of Perak. There does seem to be some provenance in tracing the history of this keris, but it is hard to say if any of it is to be believed. And there is also a legend that Hang Tuah threw the keris into saying that he would return when the kris re-appeared. If it is the actual Taming Sari keris this would be one of the very few examples of a famous esoteric blade being photographed.
As has already been suggested, this is a strange road to travel. As i stated before, truly esoteric and important keris blades are rarely show, let alone photographed. So finding examples to fuel this discussion will be near impossible. And just because someone has said a keris is famous or powerful does not necessarily so. So i am not sure what there is to be gained by this conversation or what you hope to accomplish with this thread.

[Jean]

Originally Posted by David

As i stated before, truly esoteric and important keris blades are rarely shown, let alone photographed. So finding examples to fuel this discussion will be near impossible. And just because someone has said a keris is famous or powerful does not necessarily so.

I will try to propose an exception to what David said about showing esoteric and important blades (at least for me).
However the blade in question is not a keris but a badik from Sulawesi previously belonging to a local ruler's family in Kalimantan.
The blade is old and the pamor pattern is indistinct, and I did not attempt to treat it but just polish it a little. The hilt is made from hippo ivory, the selut is from 22 kt gold filigree, and the scabbard from hippo ivory and a precious wood.
The story of this kris (which I could not witness myself but was reported to me by a reliable informant) is that it protected the house of its owner from burning while the 300 surrounding houses of the village were burned to the ground. What I could witness on the other hand is that after about 1 week after I acquired this piece, the whole village of Bontang was destroyed by a fire including the house of the seller who kept the badik in his custody!
Another part of the story is that this badik was normally not meant to be mine because of its original price and many people wanting to buy it, but I visited the seller just at the right moment as if there had been some magical influence...