K a l a w i j a -- The Unordinary Dhapur
 

Dear All,

Kalawija in keris, is a classification of kerises with unordinary dhapur. You must differ with "modern keris" which sometimes abides the pakem rule. Kalawija is still in a pakem rule of keris, although the form and style is unordinary.

Kerises with luks or curves more than 13, Javanese calls such keris as "Kalawija". But Kalawija itself is not the name of the dhapur. It is just classification.

This time, I will show you one kalawija keris, bears dhapur "Kalabendu" with 29 luks. I got this keris 11 years ago, once exhibited by a kerabat (family) of Mangkubumi (Yogyakartanese ruler), at Bentara Budaya Keris Exhibition in Jakarta 1996.

You may "loop" the kalawija keris by such way (like in picture), to see how still artistic the kalawija keris, quite in line, although with too many luks. The keris is still with normal size, like any other Mataram era kerises.

The pamor is also not common. We call it, "pamor dwi warna" or there are two kinds of pamor in one blade. The first is of course the main pamor "beras wutah" (the scattered rice?) and the second is "sekar kopi" or coffee's bloom (may be not the right English word, pls correct it)

Gonjo,

it looks like hb VII. is it?

wonderful warangka.

what does kalawija mean? the name of kalawija is also used for a certain "abdi dalem" in keraton.

please, upload more pictures from different angle. thank you.

you must have spent a lot for your collection. whenever in Jakarta, may i visit you? wonderful collection.

Someone said to me that he looked for kerises everywhere and everytime. Till someday, he got a "special" keris. After that, it seemed that kerises looking for him. Without any hard efforts, people came to him to offer kerises. Do you have a similiar experience?

Usmen

Maybe Raden,
At least, it was formerly owned by the kerabat (family) of Hamengku Buwono (HB) VII and VIII. (Grand-grand father of the father's owner was HB VII and the Grand-grand father of the mother's owner was HB VIII).

From the style of the sheath, you may see that it comes from "wanda" (special style) of Hamengku Buwanan, not Amangkuratan (older ruler of Mataram). The wood grain also one of the best wood-motive, highest rated motive in Yogyakarta Tradition (in Solo, the more favorite is cendana wood or the sandal wood). It called "ngingrim" motive, from the favorite wood of "timoho" (Kleinhovia hospita). The ukiran (handle) also from the favorite wood, called "tayuman" (kind of bush wood, Cassia laevigata Wild).

People in Yogyakarta, they generally appreciated the special motives of timoho wood. Even they named the timoho motives, as motives in pamor. "Ngingrim" is the best motive of timoho, besiden "sembur" (many round motives like tiger's fur). They called the motives in timoho wood as "pelet". So, pelet really is the name of pamor in timoho wood.

I have special experience of owning such good keris. Actually there was someone (a rich collector) who had wanted to "nglamar" (buy) that keris three times higher, but the owner preferred to me. He said, "If I give this keris to him (the collector), I won't see it anymore. But if it is yours, I still can see it in the future...," So I got the keris with a very unreasonable low price...

The Word Kalawija
 

The exact meaning of "kalawija" itself is "unordinary". I've written in other thread, that "unordinary" conditions are not only in keris world, but also human. People, with such "kelainan" (I don't know the English word) or "cacat" (disabled) also called "kalawijan".

In keraton Solo, they have "abdi dalem kalawijan" or "palawijan", that consist of disabled people (dwarf, etc). They believed that if they give living to such people, it will bring luck, good fortune... (Like many Javanese people, they are living with good hope in the future, even they are poor or unfortunate).

Kalawija in style of making keris, and also of making hilts, means "unordinary style" or models. "Kalawijan people" in daily Javanese live, also include: "outstanding artist, traditional dancer, gamelan composer... etc). So such keris kalawija like this, believed to be suitable for them too..

Ganjawulung

Gonjo and kerislovers,

may i ask some thing?
did you face "a situation" that after having "a certain keris" your collection increased exponentially?

to kerislovers, i ask the same question. please answer.

thank you

Usman

All Jimmy's peace are beautifully made.
A question: in a picture in another thread I saw a completre sarong made by Tayuman :confused: . When i ask for tayuman in Yogya, people told me that the tree of tayuman is very little and so is possible to make hit but not sarong. Could i have some right news about tayuman?

T a y u m a n
 

Tayuman, or Cassia laevigata wild, is a kind of bush tree. Of course, rarely tayuman tree has a big trunk possible to make keris sheath. In the other thread, I just comment that Raden Usman keris' sheath is "probably" made of tayuman wood. That's probably.

So, tayuman is mostly used as hilts. Old tayuman hilts, are expensive in Yogyakarta and Surakarta. Also expensive, "kemuning werut" (red and striped kemuning). One Yogyakartanese tayuman hilt could cost until Rp 300-500.000 or around 50 euro per piece. Compare to normal hilt, of around 75.000 rupiahs.

Usually, old tayuman hilts are "submerged" if you put them on water. That's the way the Javanese choose, whether the hilts are tayuman or not. Would you try, in Yogyakarta next July Marco?

Ganjawulung

Hii Marco,

Tayuman is the best (and first choice) use for hilt keris at Jogjakarta dan Surakarta , "kemuning werut" after Tayuman.

Hilt with Tayuman wood ussually/commonly use for Keris Tayuhan or "Keris Pusoko"

soory guys, my english is very bad
:D :p :p

Usman, for many years i owned just one old Jawa keris and one Moro kris sword. I was alway searching for new information about them. Then one day, about 2 and a half years ago i discovered vikingsword.com and my entire keris world opened up for me. :)
Now i own more than 3 dozen keris and 3 more Moro kris so for me it would seem that it wasn't a keris, but a "Vikingsword" which has increased my collection exponentially. ;) :D

Thanks Cahaya
don't worry for your English also my is not good :important thing is to understand.

Tayuman and Kemuning Werut
 

Dear All,
Tayuman or Cassia laevigata Wild, usually "reddish" and no "serat" (lines grain). Look at the "lonely" Yogyakartanese hilt below. The other two behind are of "kemuning werut" (Muraya particulata Jack) with lines.

Kemuning werut, is used in Bugis handle or Sumba handle too, like in the following picture. You may look also the lines grain in the Bugis hilt and Sumba hilt. Darker color than the tayuman...

Ganjawulung

Ganja,

I think the hilt might be from Sumbawa, not Sumba.
AFAIK on Sumba there never was any local keris culture and production.
But Sumbawa (Bima) has had both Bugis and Lombok connections keriswise.

Michael

Amww

Hi Rd. U. Djogja,

The short answer to your question is: 'YES'.

Probably because as part of the family heirloom we have one with the inscription: 'LAA IQRAHA FIDDIEN' (in Arabic script) and another with the inscription:' na twah ram pes dina urang agamaning pare' (in Caraka script).

Strange coincidence, but just before I came online, I got a phone call from a friend who told me that there's a man in Bali who thinks that I may be interested in having his family heirloom as he can't look after it. :shrug:

As for the word 'kalawija':
It comes from the word kala=time and wija=seed i.e. time for planting seed.
There is another word:'PALAwija', from phala=fruit. In some regions, one or the other is used, while in others, they are used interchangeably.
Palawija is the term used for plants grown on the earth embankments/partitions of paddy fields/fishponds.
At rice-seedling planting time, whatever other 'fruit'-bearing seeds available are planted both to secure the earthenworks and to maximise yield.
Both words are derived from an agrarian society predisposed to symbolism, usually in its simplest form i.e. relating to their everyday life/universe.

So, Kalawija/Palawija refers to something which is not the staple/norm.

Well, that's my input, for what it's worth.
Hope it helps.

Cheers,
Amww

Sorry Pangeran, but that is completely meaningless to ignorant Americans such as myself who don't speak these languages. :o :)
Care to translate. :shrug:

'LAA IQRAHA FIDDIEN' means 'religion is not something to be forced'. The other one have the same meaning in Caraka script, (Old Javanese), me think.

Pangeran Datu, does the caraka script looks like this?

Agrarian and everyday life, universe. I agree Pangeran. If you look at all the ricikan (details) in kerises, all come from those terms. You look at the ganja, for instance. The name of the shape of ganja, come from animal's name: "sirah cecak" (cecak's or small reptil's head), "buntut urang" (shrimp's tail). The form of mostly Majapahit ganja is "sebit ron tal" litterally, it means that the ganja is "curving like the tal's leaf".

Greneng? Actually there are two Caraka characters of "dha" at the greneng. Sekar kacang, or kembang kacang, or some people say tlale gajah (elephant's snail?). The luks or curves' classification, also based on "animal's move". Luk with style "sarpa lumaku" (walking snake), or "sarpa nglangi" (swimming snake) et cetera...

Every details on keris blade, or keris sheath and ornaments, have their specific meanings. Even the style, has its specific meaning too. Style of hilt "taman ngabean" is strong looking: it's good for strong and tall person. Hilt of "taman banaran" which is loose-looking, is good for small or less-tall person, soft person... And so on.

Ganjawulung

Pangeran datu,

I also have a tombak where there is an inscription in its methuk. Perhaps, I will upload it. Is it better if I upload it by opening new thread "Inscription in wesi aji"? So, we can focus this thread on Kalawija.

Usman

Hi Alam Shah and David,

You are correct, of course, about the Arabic script. The implication being that, one must feel 'freed' by religion rather than be enslaved/oppressed by it.:)
Good guess on the second one! It actually means: Thus it is, that human behaviour/character should follow the wisdom of the rice plant.
Finally, look at the attached sample of Caraka and judge for yourself.

Cheers.

Amww

Hello Rd. U. Djogja,

I have no problem with that. However, I would wait a bit first, to see what level of response is generated before opening a new thread. Besides, there is already a thread about keris+spirit.
IMVHO, paranormal aspects of an object should be classified in the same category. In my experience, most inscriptions on genuine articles (not tourist white elephants) are designed to evoke/invoke/maintain some paranormal energy/activity.
Anyway, if the situation becomes such that it requires a separate thread, I'm sure our kind and generous Moderators will gladly oblige by transferring everything to a new one.
For the time being, perhaps we can prevail upon Ganjawulung's kindness and get him to edit the title of his original post, changing it to: The Kalawija/Palawija.:)

Cheers.
Amww

No; if you guys want to start a new thread please do so. :)
I'm not of the mind, nor do I have the time to transfer old posts to a new thread.
Pls. remember that this is volunteer work; not a job. ;) :D

Ditto!
;) :D

More Unordinary Dhapur
 

Thank you Rick, David, and everybody,
Still continue the "unordinary dhapur". This time not kalawija, but rarely seen such dhapur like this. If we see the ricikan (details), at least we can see that this keris consists of two dhapur. (1) Karno Tinanding (but usually, karno tinanding is a straight dhapur) and (2) Sabuk Inten (11 luks, with two sogokans -- I don't know the English word).

What will you call such dhapur? Sabuk Inten tinanding? Please give me idea...

Ganjawulung

More Kalawija
 

Dear All,
Here is another kalawija keris, with 19 luks. I don't know, it is maybe Bimakroda luk 19 (?) or something else. (I hope Mansur will tell me what it is). The sheath is kemuning wood with motives of "nganam kepang" (English?), iras (one piece of wood) Solonese style.

Ganjawulung

hi Ganjawulung.
Your keris is very impressive :)
I think you right if called this keris as Bimakrodha luk 19. The keris which shown the spirit or enthusiasm.
The wrangka also nice piece, especially if the mendak will replaced with silver mendak, same with the selut material (thats just my humble opinion lho ya ;) )

Hi Michael,
Sorry for being late to response your post. Exactly you are right. It might be Sumbawa and not Sumba. Thanks for the correction...

Ganjawulung

Mr Mans Hidayat,
I have changed the mendhak with silver mendhak, as your request...
Thanks for your attention

Ganjawulung

I think your keris look better than before, isn't it ?
Nice collections ;)