[QUThank you very much once again for your insight That picture of the pre-carving keris is very interesting, thank you I thought the luk are forged though? Or do they get carved out of the picture you shared as well? Do you have recommendations on where to start learning more on the process of making these keris? It's a scarily complex world, but I enjoy learning more about it!
I thought the "sasra" bit comes from the naga body being along most of the blade... thank you for the correction, so it's the crown that makes it a "naga sasra". My research led to the crown turning it into a "naga raja"... just another example how lost I am in this matter still. So as to not jump to too many wrong conclusions I am consulting you guys. Thanks to all you helpful people for your guidance and assistance OTE]
Yes, luk should be forged into a keris that has luk, although sometimes they are not, however, not all keris have luk, there are many more models of straight keris than there are keris with luk.
I cannot make any recommendations in respect of where you might be able to get hands on tuition in the making of a keris. i believe that the road that I took has been closed for many years.
However, the forge work is something that any blacksmith who is still capable of working in a traditional manner could teach, & there is a vast body of available information on the internet. I have never taken any real interest in the internet resources, but I know that a number of people who contribute to this forum have taken an interest in the internet stuuf, so hopefully one or more of these people may be able to make some recommendations.
As to the design & carving of a keris, I do not know of anybody who could assist.
The word "sasra" is Javanese literary usage for "one thousand" and it supposedly refers to the scales of the naga, it is only one of the attributes of a Naga Sasra. I strongly recommend that you do not get too involved in trying to use "correct" terms and names, these can vary from place to place, time to time, group to group, as do the various understandings also.
In my opinion there are a couple of extremely important things that anybody with a sincere interest in the keris should do, & that almost nobody does do.
The first is to try to get some understanding of Bahasa Indonesia, which is based upon the Malay language, secondly, to gain a rudimentary understanding of the Javanese language at least.
The second thing is that in the absence of a solid working understanding of most especially Javanese & Balinese cultures & societies, it is close to impossible to truly understand the keris.
Very, very few people with a keris interest, even in Indonesian urban societies, ever get much involved in what I am recommending here, & that means that without the deeper understandings a collector is limited to only the physical attraction that a keris might have.
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