Another Surakarta Keris

[JustYS]

Thank you Jagabuwana.

Thank you for your answer Alan, it seems that my Dhapur copy is incomplete.

In Luk 7 section I only have: Sempana Panjul, Carubuk, Sempana Bungkem, Sepokal (A), Murda Malela, Kidang Soka, Jaran Guyang, Panji Semedi and Naga Keras.

What a gorgeous Keris David.

[Gustav]

Regarding Pamor Wengkon:

Winter, who came from an old family of translators at the Keraton of Surakarta, uses the name Pamor Wengkon in his 1871 book, apparently for a true Pamor Wengkon.

Groneman uses the name Pamor Tepi for a Mlumah border, inside of which there is contained another Pamor. He doesn't mention a "pure" Wengkon. Groneman's information comes mainly from Yogyakarta.

Jasper&Mas Pirngadie mention Pamor Tepi exactly the same way as Groneman, they possibly took it over from Groneman, as they did with Winter's Wengkon, mentioning the source.

Actually HH in his book uses both terms, Tepen and Wengkon.

The possibilities are

1) name Pamor Tepi was used only for Wengkon containing another Pamor within its border, perhaps only in Yogayakarta;

2) name Pamor Tepi was used in Yogyakarta, Pamor Wengkon in Surakarta for the same Pamor, including "pure" Pamor Wengkon.

[Gustav]

And in Gronemans article in van Duuren's redaction, p.81, after excerpt with Winter's Pamor designs, which include Wengkon, there is a mention of Tepen:

"In an enumeration of seventeen pamor motifs from a collection of manuscripts owned by Resident Couperus, I found another four new names:

(...)
2. tepen, possibly an edge pamor without anything else.

That would mean, Pamor Tepen likely is an old Yogyakarta name for Pamor Wengkon (Couperus was Resident in Yogyakarta).

[A. G. Maisey]

I have always found it useful to know what a word actually means when I try to understand something.

The words that Gustav has given us are worth a second look.

The word "tepi" means the edge, border or boundary of something --- a pretty good restaurant in Peliatan in Bali called "Bebek Tepi Sawah" = "Duck at the edge of the Rice field".

The word "tepen" comes from "tepi" and it means to have decorative edging. It is not a noun.

HH does use both "wengkon" & "tepen" , he does not list either wengkon or tepen in his list of pamors, but underneath a picture of wengkon pamor that he names as pamor "Tepen" & then brackets (wengkon) after it. The way this presented on P.201 of KJ it seems to me that he prefers "Tepen" but refers to "wengkon" so others will know what he is writing about.

But we need to look closely at the word "wengkon".

The word "wengkon" comes from "wengku", this word has two ways of being understood, firstly as a frame, ie, "picture frame", & secondly as "power".

The word "wewengkon" = "a large territory of power", by "large", we are thinking in terms of a region or province, for example "Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta" = "The Special Region of Jogjakarta"

In Balinese the word "wengkon" is a contraction of "wengku-an", & this means "a region or province".

In Old Javanese we find "wengkon" as "wengka (wengko)", meaning "a district or region", the word probably comes into Old Javanese from Kawi, perhaps originally taken from Sanskrit.

"Tepi" also occurs in Old Javanese, but this word appears not to have acquired the derivative of "tepen" at that point in time.

In Surakarta the Pamor Wengkon is used in keris & tombak that are/were given to a newly appointed Bupati, by the Susuhunan. The purpose of the gift is/was to serve as a constant reminder to the Bupati that he has power (& responsibility) for the province or region that he has been appointed to govern.

When we understand the meanings of the word "wengkon" it is not at all difficult to understand the reason for its name:- it is a physical representation of both the province that the Bupati has responsibility for, & his power over it.

The keris is regarded as royal art, thus if the pamor wengkon is the name of this pamor in the Karaton Surakarta, then in Surakarta this must be accepted as the correct name for the pamor.

However, as I have mentioned in other places, keris terminology is not fixed, so if somebody else wants to use a descriptor as a name for the pamor motif, then of course, they may, but by doing so they ignore the traditional understandings of the name "Pamor Wengkon".

The way these understandings were explained to me was that the wengkon itself represented the protection of the Bupati, & the area within the wengkon represented his province & people whom he must protect.

Sorry for being so long winded, but there are lots & lots of misunderstandings associated with the keris, and regrettably they all require about as many words --- or more --- than I have used here, to be clarified.

[David]

No need to apologize for a long explanation. You have explained the meaning of pamor wengkon to me before and this explanation of the meaning of the word "wengkon" make a lot of sense to me. So i am sure i will continue to use that name as it ties it into the purpose for the use of this particular pamor.
I agree that names are constantly changing in keris terminology and that often it is at the cost of deeper meanings.

[Gustav]

Just a question: is Wengkon or Adeg Wengkon the Pamor of Keris given to newly appointed Bupati in the past?

Adeg Wengkon is Adeg Wengkon also in KJ book.

[A. G. Maisey]

Adeg Wengkon, according to what I was told by those who were more knowledgeable than myself, is a misnomer, in fact, Adeg Wengkon should be called Tejo Kinurung, but that is only when the line of border pamor is unbroken, if it fails to meet in the point area, then it becomes adeg tiga.

Tejo Kinurung is a pamor that was/is favoured by karaton & government employees, it is not the pamor that was given to newly appointed bupatis. However, going back a few years --- maybe twenty odd --- it was a popular belief amongst some collectors that the so-called "adeg wengkon" pamor was actually given to the bupati to protect that bupati, whilst others had the idea that the adeg was representative of the populace of the province and it was the populace that the border was protecting.

The function of a wengkon understood as a border is protective, where it encloses any other pamor, then the other pamor is read as the thing being protected, where it does not enclose another pamor then it is protecting the enclosed area of the blade which is then read as the wengkuan>wewengkon>wengko, ie, the province. The function of a bupati is the governance & protection of a province or region, so it is the line of pamor that then represents the bupati.

When a wengkon encloses a line of standing (adeg) pamor, it is enclosing and protecting against disaster, curses, black magic & so on.

When PBXII was still with us keris & tombak of exceptionally high quality were given on loan to newly appointed Bupatis, these pusakas were not often returned to the kraton upon the passing of the Bupati to whom they had been loaned, they were usually retained by his family, and then found other homes.