View Single Post
Old 27th August 2020, 12:53 AM   #32
A. G. Maisey
Member
 
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 6,697
Default

That's interesting Gustav, thanks for making the pic available.

Certainly it is outside the possibility of classification according to the Central Javanese tangguh system. It just doesn't fit.

However, this one is bronze. The trident is associated with Siwa, and both these tridents have a triple ring feature between the base of the metuk and the base of the blade.

The first trisula from 2006 appears to be of iron and it has a metuk base that slightly resembles Puton classification, and its triple ring feature has a larger, heavier central ring.

The second trisula is of bronze and the ring feature has thinner rings, but still three rings.

I feel we might be looking at something from the Hindu-Buddhist period here.

Trident > Siwa.

Trident > three blades

Metuk + three rings > the Hindu Trinity(Trimurti) > Brahma > Wisnu > Siwa

Trident > Trimurti > Trimetuk

Only an idea, but bronze/Mojokerto/three/trisula/Trimurti/Siwa.

It fits together too neatly to be ignored

In Buddhist-Hindu culture as it was in Jawa & Bali, everything goes in threes.

Thanks again Gustav, for me, this is a clarification.


EDIT

You will note that on the original trisula the centre ring is heavier than the other two rings. This centre ring can, I believe, be understood as representing Siwa. In the Trimurti Brahma is the Creator, Wisnu is the Preserver, Siwa is the Destroyer.

The direction associated with Brahma is to the South.

The direction associated with Wisnu is to the North.

Siwa's position is at the Centre, but Siwa's favourite direction is North.

In the Early Classical Period the temple complex at Prambanan was constructed to face to the East, this was the usual Hindu temple orientation in Central Jawa during this period. Prambanan is a complex of three temples with the temple of Brahma to the South of the temple of Siwa, and the temple of Wisnu to the North of the temple of Siwa. Thus, read as directional orientation, facing the temple of Siwa you have Brahma to the left, Siwa at the centre, and Wisnu to the right. The same would apply with other representations of the Trimurti during the early classical period in Central Jawa.

Last edited by A. G. Maisey; 27th August 2020 at 09:13 AM.
A. G. Maisey is offline   Reply With Quote