From keris glossary on Alan's website:
"Cecekan -The small areas of carving (normally 2) on a Central Javanese planar ukiran which are said to be the stylised representation of a kala face."
(source:
http://www.kerisattosanaji.com/keris-glossary)
If I'm not mistaken, a kala is a demon form in the Javanese and Hindu belief system.
Kala also means "time" in sanskrit. Kala the personality is a Batara, a god, and is the god of time.
- We know that demons are often represented in figural hilts, and they make for good guardians to temples, shrines and consequently kerises. But why is it kalas specifically that are present and ubiquitously symbolised through the cecekan, as opposed to other demons or raksasas more generically?
- Is there a relationship between kalas and Kala?
- Am I right in thinking that kalas a veiled way of representing Kala the god without doing so directly, in the same way that the keris represents or depicts Siva and Sivaistic elements?