Sad News

[rasdan]

Hi all,

I receive a sad news today, Thursday, 25 May 2006. Empu Djeno Harumbrodjo had peacefully passed away at his residence at 5.30am. He is 76 years old. My deepest condolences to the Empu's family and friends. May he rest in peace. Al-Fatihah.

[Alam Shah]

May he rest in peace. My condolences to his family and relatives. :( With the demise of Empu Djeno, the number of empus in Java is getting to the point of extinction.

[Raja Muda]

I have never Empu Djeno met personally, though I have viewed him at work in a CD on keris culture produced by Malaysia's Museums and Antiquities Department.
In the footage, almarhum Empu Djeno explained the components needed to construct a keris, as well as the process of creating pamor patterns. Next, there was extensive footage of him and his nephew working on a new keris (if I could recall, it was a Singa Barong with a straight blade.) It was quite a sight to behold, to see this thin old man begin his work by reciting prayers and scattering flowers over the furnace, toiling in the heat, hammering the blade to perfection, tempering it.
A friend was fortunate enough to meet him and he came away from the visit awed by the old man's quiet wisdom.
At the back of my mind, and in the minds of many keris collectors I trust, almarhum Empu Djeno is somewhat like a grandfather figure, one of the few to perpetuate a centuries old tradition.
With his passing, an age comes to a close, just as a chapter of post-revolutionary Indonesian literature ended with Pramoedya Ananta Toer's passing a few weeks ago.

He will be missed. May Allah bless his soul.

[nechesh]

Very sad news indeed! A great loss to the keris community and the world at large. Let us hope that it is not the end of an age and that there are others willing and able to follow in his footsteps. Hopefully he taught his apprentices a thing or two.

[BluErf]

I believe Empu Djeno has passed his skills onto his son-in-law. The art will live on. We will miss Empu Djeno...

[kai]

Prayers sent for him and his family!

[Henk]

A great loss for his family and the world of keris.

I thought he passed his skills onto his son, who did the heavy work for him lately. A friend of mine visited the old Empu Djeno last summer and i watched this visit on the DVD my friend made of his trip.

A kind man past away.

[Ki Jayamalelo]

In Memory of Ki Jeno and his elder brother Ki Yoso with my deepest condolences.

Ki Yayamalelo

[Alam Shah]

...In the footage, almarhum Empu Djeno explained the components needed to construct a keris, as well as the process of creating pamor patterns. Next, there was extensive footage of him and his nephew working on a new keris (if I could recall, it was a Singa Barong with a straight blade.) Raja Muda, All the keris featured on the CD are luk pieces, probably what you saw was the part before it was hammered into luks. Singa Barong is one of the blades...only shown during the warangi footage...

Thanks for reminding me about the CD. Now I've watched it again in memory of Empu Djeno. :)