[A. G. Maisey]

IP:- "Today's question for me before I read this thread was the difference in iconography and meaning between a kala mask and a kirtmuktha. Both ideas reinforcing the value of the moments given us and personal growth, but sometimes slow, steady change makes for dull reading."

"mukha" means "face", even in Bahasa Indonesia the word "muka" means "face", in Javanese literary form "mukha" means face

"kirti" means "glorious" in Sanscrit, and in Modern Balinese it means "religious merit"

"Kirtimukha" is a demon follower of Siwa

"kala" means "time" in Sanscrit and in BI & Jav., it is also the name of the son of Siwa & Uma; Kala was a ravenous demon, who tried to eat his younger brother Kumara (Ie, Dewa Kumara, Rare Kumara). Kalamukha can be understood as Kirtimukha

Kumara hid and escaped being eaten by his older brother, the demonic Kala, thus Kumara became the God Protector of children.

"Bhoma" in Bali, is the son of Wisnu & Dewi Basundari (Hyang Pertiwi), and is the Son of the Earth, in Bali he equates to the Javanese "Kala". As the son of Water and Earth he can be understood as growth and abundance, but if understood as Kala then he becomes time and time equates to Death, "Yama" is judge of the dead, Kala's other name is "Yama".

When we add the word 'mukha' we are really talking about an artistic motif that in form of Kirtimukha spread across all of Indianised Maritime SE Asia. It usually surmounts doorways and the entry that it surmounts can provide the prompt to how the motif needs to be understood.

So, if we look at Kirtimukha - Kalamukha - Bhoma we are looking at similar artistic motifs that are related but not exactly the same, and their placement and geographic location can result in varying understandings.

All of the above has precious little to do with keris, all this curiosity about what one motif or form might represent is simply curiosity for a name to hang on something, a classification, part of the "Name Game" UNLESS we go to the trouble of trying to understand how the people who own the culture of these motifs & forms understand them.

For somebody who just wants to collect exotic weapons, the whole thing just becomes too hard & too confusing, and in my opinion it is one of the major reasons why interest in the keris is often so very superficial.

The photos are of a gateway and a close-up of the motif above it, with what most people with a slight knowledge of Indonesian art would call a "Kala Mask". The gateway is in Bali, in the grounds of the Den Pasar Museum.

How do we understand this motif above a doorway that leads to nowhere and that is purely artistic expression?

We sometimes see this same motif used as the closure of the Javanese, Balinese and Madura topengan pendok. How should we understand it in this application?

In short, if we are members of an entirely foreign society & culture to the one that owns this motif, we cannot understand it, indeed, investigation will reveal that within the cultures that do own this motif it can be understood in varying ways and only a limited number of people will be in possession of the knowledge needed to understand the motif.

For example, this Kirtimukha we have been talking about eventually turned into the Garuda, and the wandering foliage of ancient Indian art eventually was represented as serpents, thus when we see a combination of Garuda with foliage or Garuda with serpents, we see an expression of the Good together with the Bad and by extension Positive elements overcoming Negative.

As I just wrote, the whole thing becomes too difficult, unless we expand our study from just one blossom, ie, the Keris, to the entire garden, ie, the culture & society.

Not many people with a primary interest in edged weaponry are prepared to do that.