To expand a little on my earlier post.
In respect of the Panataran scabbard.
I have visited Panataran --- or Penataran --- three times, in 2018 I was able to spend 10 hours there, however I have not given any time to an in depth study of Panataran.
There have been a number of studies carried out of the Panataran reliefs, perhaps the most notable would be the work done by Satyawati Suleiman. However, in spite of the work that has been done by respected academics it is still difficult to affix concrete interpretations that can be universally agreed upon, to the various reliefs.
The two major stories shown in the reliefs on the main temple are the Ramayana & and the Kresnayana, but working with published data it is not very easy to align interpretations with the actual relief carvings. This could be done, but I think it would take me a considerably longer time than I have so far had available.
As Gustav has pointed out, the gandar of the Panataran scabbard has a form that is unique amongst Javanese scabbard forms, in that it resembles the tip of the Sri Lankan piha kaetta (to use the generally accepted collector term).
I know next to nothing about Sri Lankan/Ceylonese material culture, but I seem to recall that it is very difficult to place the piha kaetta at any earlier time period than the early 1600's, when they seem to have begun to be produced in the workshops of the rulers of Kandy.
The Kingdom of Kandy was, I believe, founded in the late 1400's, Candi Panataran was constructed between circa 1190 & 1455.
It might be tempting to attribute the Panataran scabbard form to an influence from the piha kaetta form, but bearing in mind the relevant dates and the possible relationships between the Kingdom of Kandy and the kingdoms of East Jawa at the relevant times, I do feel that any similarities between the material culture of Kandy and the material culture of East Jawa, might be able to be regarded as purely coincidental.
However, since this scabbard form does seem to exist in two places that would seem rather difficult to associate one with the other, perhaps --- if there is an influence --- any influence in form might be able to be attributed to a form in some other part of South Asia that predates either Kandy or the kingdoms associated with Panataran.
I have examined this scabbard relief carving in situ, and frankly I am not absolutely convinced that the form that we now see is necessarily original, to my eye it appears that the present form could be the result of past damage and then a degree of "tidying up".
In respect of the Sukuh scabbard, I believe that we can definitely attribute later Javanese & Balinese scabbard styles to this style shown in the Sukuh reliefs. In Bali the jamprahan form of scabbard was in times past only used by religious leaders, at the present time it is not a popular form.
|