pacul goang and gadung melati
 

dear kerislovers,

firstly, I ask permission to moderator for posting a new topic which no direct ralation with keris. However, imho in a wider perspective, there is an indirect point of contact between keris as art and other javanese state of arts.

secondly, in this topic, I raise about pacul goang (pacul=hoe ; goang= having a rough surface) and gadung melati (gadung= a kind of tuber; melati=jasmine). Both are javanese gendings (gending=musical composition).

both gendings are usually played if there is someone having a wish to God. Pacul goang is usually played if someone plans to make a gathering such as wedding party whilst at that time is rainy season. by playing this gending, it is hoped that during the wedding party there is no rain. The rain happens before or after that occasion. Relation with keris? During playing this musical compostion, one of the players wears keris which has "singkir" pamor. The best is if the singkir pamor is for "singkir udan" (rain prevention/management). Eventhough, in reality to know which pamor singkir if for rain or for fire or for disease prevention is almost impossible. It is only based on feeling and believe.

gadung melati musical composition has a similiar function with pacul goang. of course, it is for different wish. usually, musician who plays kendang (javanese drums) or gender (javanese xylophone (?)) wears good "luk 7" keris.

kerislovers, what I mentioned above is still debatable. I just heard longtime ago from someone. believing it or not is up to you. if anyone in this forum can share by uploading keris picture which has pamor singkir or which has 7 luks, this topic will be on track for rule of the game of this warung kopi keris. but, if none, I can understand if the moderators will eliminate this topic from the floor.

I also appreciate if someone can upload at youtube.com the two musical compositions mentioned above: pacul goang and gadung melati. Does anyone among kerislovers want to check the relation between keris and gending? wearing keris which has singkir pamor, turning the computer on, listening pacul goang... in winter time :eek:
warm salam,
OeS

Usman, I for one applaud your initiative in opening discussion to the wider perspective of Javanese art and culture.

For years I have been telling anybody who would listen to me that they cannot even begin to understand the keris unless they first devote some time and effort to an attempt to understand the broad expanse of Javanese art and culture as a beginning.

You have targeted a couple of keris specific examples, but I personally feel that it would not be astray if we were to touch on some of the more diverse aspects of the way in which the Javanese people approach the world in general.

Let's face it:- there can only be so much discussion of "what dhapur", "what pamor", "what origin", "how old". This sort of thing I find superficial and quite frankly pretty boring. A few expeditions into the Javanese world-view, or the Javanese approach to artistic values might not go astray.

Here we are, right at the beginning of Lebaran--selamat Lebaran everybody--- so maybe now is a good time for us to expand our reach just a little.

Dear Usman
I also think this is a wonderful topic. While I see many books about the object that we call the keris, what it looks like how it is made how it is classified and so on, there is not very much information as to the role of the keris in a cultural context. Yes it could be a weapon but from the few references I have found its place in society was much greater. I would love to hear more on this topic
david

No worries Usman, i think we are all in agreement that the keris cannot possibly be understood in a vacuum. It must be put into cultural context.
I could not find anything on youtube for pacul goang, but i found this for gudang melati. Unfortunately i don't see anyone wearing a keris. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cZ6IQ4f6Z0

dear David,

it is surprising me that there is gadung melati in bali. surprising because as I heard before, gadung melati musical composition is quite new. it was compossed during pakubuwono IV era (1768-1820). so, if there is gadung melati in bali version, it should have been existed long before Pakubuwono IV (for instance it has been existed since Majapahit era).

according to wearing or unweiring keris? David, in that youtube I think it was still in rehearsal. Even only rehearsal, they tended to play very carefull compared with balinese music as usual. from this youtube I have broader information that gadung melati is exist not only in Jawa, surakarta especially, but also in Bali island.

perhaps if any kerislovers are able to upload in youtube gadung melati javanese version?

finally, David, what information I shared as I said is still debatable. However, even it is still debatable, I think it is interesting :) And who knows in this forum there will be clearer information/understanding.

warm salam,
OeS

Just to be clear, my observation was not intended to put your assertion in doubt. I was just hoping to see someone with a keris in the video. :)
Your explanation that the absence of keris might be because this is merely a rehearsal is quite reasonable. :)
This information certainly is interesting and learning about how keris fits into the culture and day-to-day lives of Indonesians (or how it did in the past) is far more intriguing to me than merely being able to distinguish one pamor or dhapur from another.

dear David,

seemingly, we dont have an opportunity to enjoy pacul goang and gadung melati music composition yet. by this fact, do we assume that these two music compositions are quite sacred? on the contrary, are these compositions not quite popular? :D

about popular performance arts in Javanese culture. KETOPRAK (javanese opera [?]) is very popular. I heard longtime ago that It was not advised to use real keris during performing a role in ketoprak. Even you were important person in society (a president) whilst you had important role in ketoprak performance (a king), you were still not advised to use a real pusaka. WHY?

warm salam,
OeS

in fact, out of respect, real pusaka keris should not be used for any demo or performances like ketoprak. It is widely believed that the performers were in trance / possessed by "certain spirits" (though not 100%) that may cause accidents, in fact the performance itself may be participated by unknown spirit/s similar to kuda kepang performance. If a real pusaka keris were to be trained at somebody, the "isi" would interprete it as killing intent, in ketoprak or whatever performances notwithstanding.

dalang wears keris
 

dear Penangsang,

in my hometown, a (dalang) shadow puppetter usually wears a keris when he performs. some people believe that a dalang is not only an entertainer but also a guru.

still in my hometown, in my childhood there were thieves during the nights. for some people, live was not so easy at that time. they should do wrongdoing. for instance, if there was a thief in your rice grannary last night, you can distinguish what kind thief he was. If he stolen all rice in grannary, he was a criminal who was anti-social and immoral. If he just stolen 2/3 of your rice, the thief was, actually, a good person but he did it because of no other job to feed him and, perhaps, his family member. It was believed that the thief would only pick 1/3 of your rice to feed his family. The rest, 1/3, would be donated to others whom were poorer than him.

at that time, the aviability of policemen were few compared with the wide of the region. neighbourhood had an activity to guard their region. however, thieves were always one step ahead.

in pursuing to solve that problem, some people tried to have a keris or a spear-point, especially which had pamor "tundung".

warm salam,
OeS