FIGURAL HILTS -- Bird (Demon)

[ganjawulung]

Originally Posted by BluErf

But anyway, things have come full circle - the garuda/rashaksa hilts originally from Java, that travelled up Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia to evolve into the tajong, has now "returned home".

The form of raksasa hilt (more popular in Jawa as “Buta Bajang” or literally means “dwarf-giant”) as these pics below, also seen in older Cirebon hilts in many variants. Some of the Cirebon hilts also called as “nyamba” (like wayang figure in the pics) hilts… Samba is a certain name in Javanese wayang.

Originally Posted by BluErf

The jawa demam is not related (at least not closely) to the tajong, or the rashaksa hilts that seemed to be the ancestor of the tajong.

If you look carefully at the posture of the arms and legs, you can see the difference between the jawa demam hilt, and the rashaksa hilts. The tajong's posture has been so stylized that if you had not seen the rashaksa hilts, you probably would not be able to make out that it is the vestigial representation of the rashaksa's posture. I believe someone had named the postures before, as well as the hand sign, or mudra. Anyway, the rashaksa is squatting, with hands on knees, with the thumb of one hand sticking out, while the little finger of the other hand is sticking out. This is supposedly a mudra to drive away evil.

At some point in time, some rashaksa changed posture, with one leg raised, the other leg down. This is possibly the rajalila posture. The arms have also changed posture, folded across the chest instead..

These are the pics of "buta or raksasa" hilts from my collection...