Exceptional new book on keris hilts and keris

[A. G. Maisey]

Jean, I have this book on order, so I cannot really comment on anything yet. I rarely buy newly published books relating to the keris, and when I do buy, it is usually because I either know the writer, or I respect the opinions of other people who have commented on the book.

Bruce Carpenter wrote the text for this book. I do not know Bruce Carpenter, and I am doing my best to fill in some background on him, however, I do already have one opinion, and that is that he is "solid" and that he is "---pretty thorough in his research and his work ---". This opinion came from one of the most highly regarded personages involved in Balinese culture today.

Albert's opinion I have taken at full value.

Accordingly, I am already a little bit prejudiced towards a positive opinion of this book, even though I have not yet seen it.

I do hope I am not going to be disappointed.

I think E.A.N. van Veenendaal was the author of "Pamor Atlas"?

Is this correct?

Do we know upon what authority or personal research he based the naming of the Ganesha-like hilt you mention, as "Sri Gajah Waktra"?

I only know Raja Sri Gajah Waktra as an early Balinese ruler. I cannot recall ever having seen this historic figure portrayed in a Ganesha-like form.

[Jean]

Hello Alan
Emile Van Veenendaal wrote the booklet "Pamor Atlas" (2 editions) indeed, and also the booklet "Krisgrepen en scheden uit Bali en Lombok" (also 2 editions) which is the most detailed book about Bali & Lombok hilts which I am aware of. He lived in Lombok for many years and was a friend of the famous collector Alwi Moerad (see pic)
Regards

[A. G. Maisey]

Thank you for that background Jean.

[David]

Hi Jean. Is that the traditional manner in which keris are worn in Lombak? It seems a bit odd and awkward for such large keris.

[Jean]

Hi David,
I frankly don't know but I guess that it should be one of the traditional manners, may be for better showing the kris (and more convenient than the traditional Balinese manner behind the shoulder!).
PS: See attached pic, the text means: "It can also be inserted on the front"

[JustYS]

Originally Posted by David

Hi Jean. Is that the traditional manner in which keris are worn in Lombak? It seems a bit odd and awkward for such large keris.

It seems so David, see below pics when you google search using keyword “busana adat sasak”:

Picture with information text mentioned selepan (weapon) not necessarily Keris.

[David]

Originally Posted by JustYS

It seems so David, see below pics when you google search using keyword “busana adat sasak”:

Picture with information text mentioned selepan (weapon) not necessarily Keris.

I'm not sure what to make of these illustrations JustYS. The top photo of the seated man clearly shows a modern era Madura dress. Was this person presented as someone from Lombok or is he Madurese? If he is from Lombok i do not understand the Maduran keris.
The illustration shows an example of President Jokowi (Joko Widodo) dressed in what is supposed to be traditional Sasak dress. Fair enough since the Sasak people make up about 85% of the Lombok population. About the weapon shown here the caption reads: "Jokowi uses pemaje, a work tool for the Sasak people which is usually used in the "finishing touch" stage of a work or result."
But then i found this information about the pemaje in the book "Sword" by Putra Danayu: "In the implementation of the traditional Sasak ceremony, sometimes the pemaje also appears as an obligatory clothing accessory. It is not like the placement of the keris that is pinned to the back of the waist. Pemaje is often instead in the front of the stomach. Rather slanted tucked into the front belt of traditional clothing."
By the way, President Jokowi is of Javanese decent, born and raised in Surakarta.
So i am not sure that a photo of an gentleman with a Maduro keris stuck into his front or an illustration of the Javanese President of Indonesia (albeit in Sasak dress) with a blade that is not a keris, but rather a pemaje which IS traditionally worn in this position, says about how keris are traditionally worn in Lombok.
I did, however, find a few photos of men in some ceremonial processions in Lombok with keris in this front position, so these images might serve as better evidence of the practice. It does still seem rather awkward to carry such large keris in this manner, but it does seem to be done. Of course i also found some photos of men in procession carrying their keris in the Balinese fashion.

[A. G. Maisey]

Thank you Jean.

I do not understand Dutch. I have not the slightest inkling of what the text on the photographed page says.

I can see the hilts, and over the last 50+ years of visits to Bali, similar hilts have always been identified to me as variations in representations of Ganesha.

I am not arguing against the true identification being different to the opinions of multiple people in Bali over an extended period, but I would very much like to see some confirmation of Mr. van Veenendaal's opinion, and from an authoritative source.

I do know for a fact that Balinese craftsmen and artists do vary the ways in which they present well known characters.

I know that Ganesha is an extremely popular subject for carvers and other artists in Bali. I also know that figures identified as Ganesha come in a variety of different representations, from a frightening raksasa-like form --- that the carver told me was Ganesha as Gajah Mada, who was seen as terrible in Bali --- to Ganesha as a child in a playful mood.
(Gajah Mada was candified as Ganesha).

I personally have around 50 representations of Ganesha, ranging from a stone statue in my garden, to a tiny fob on my watchchain. Each representation is different.

I doubt that I have ever seen a Balinese representation of Ganesha that would be accepted by a mainline Hindu devotee as a genuine representation of Ganesha.

I have never encountered mention of Raja Sri Gajah Waktra from a Balinese person in reference to a physical representation of Raja Sri Gajah Waktra. I cannot recall seeing in any printed work a physical representation of Raja Sri Gajah Waktra. I only know of this person from reading.

If Mr. van Veenendaal was able to positively identify these "Ganesha variations" as being, in fact, representations of Raja Sri Gajah Waktra, this would be a valuable addition to our knowledge of the Balinese plastic arts, not only for people in Western cultures, but perhaps even for the Balinese people them selves.

Thus, an authoritative verification of the forms that Mr. van Veenendaal identifies as Raja Sri Gajah Waktra would seem to me to be something very desirable.

EDIT

I've been thinking about this all day, and I think I might have an answer, I'm away from home at the moment and cannot check anything, so I'm just going to float a couple of ideas and perhaps somebody with access to sources can confirm. It would help if I could read the Dutch text of Mr. van Veenendaals, but I cannot, so I'm guessing.

In the text of Mr. van Veenendaal he refers to "Sri Gajah Waktra". The name in this form refers to an archaic Balinese ruler so, correctly it is "Raja Sri Gajah Waktra", who was known by other names as well. The "Gajah Waktra" part is a title.

However, if we drop the "Sri" and give the name as "Gajahwaktra" then we are talking about a character from the Sutasoma kakawin who tries to eat Prince Sutasoma.

I probably should mention also that some people believe that the Sutasoma Gajahwaktra is in fact an incarnation of Rudra who of course is an incarnation of Siwa who is the father of Ganesha.Thus Gajahwaktra is actually a representation of Ganesha.

There is another story too that I only half recall and want to check, where Ganesha breaks his tusk and then gets named as Gajahwaktra or Ratkatundra(?). So in fact, Ganesha and Gajahwaktra are the same in this story. I'm pretty sure that this story is a Balinese story.

So, depending on the way the name is presented, and depending on the context these demonic representations of Ganesha might legitimately be named as "Gajahwaktra" --- but I have never encountered this usage.

What we might have in the van Veendendaal text is a confusion in identities --- but perhaps the rest of the Dutch text negates that idea.

[Jean]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Do we know upon what authority or personal research he based the naming of the Ganesha-like hilt you mention, as "Sri Gajah Waktra"?

I only know Raja Sri Gajah Waktra as an early Balinese ruler. I cannot recall ever having seen this historic figure portrayed in a Ganesha-like form.

Hello Alan,
Reference to Emile Van Veenendaal's book.