[A. G. Maisey]

I do not know with certainty the symbolic intent of this curl on the top of the hilt, however, during the 1980's I was given similar explanations of it by two people, one a Brahmin priest, the second a woman who in her community was highly regarded for her traditional knowledge.

According to the explanations I was given, this curl is to be understood as a sprout, the body of the hilt in this context is to be understood as a stump, or tree trunk, the pattern of the weaving echoes the poleng pattern of sacred cloth. The overall understanding is that of new, developing life and of protection.

There is a relationship between this grantim hilt form and the cenangan hilt form. In times past the grantim was reserved for wear by nobles (bangsawan), so people who were not recognised as nobles were denied the right to wear this hilt form, thus the cenangan form was developed, which is overall the same as the grantim form, but lacks the woven covering of the hilt body, having only bare wood as its "stump". Cenangan hilts are often adorned with metal overlay and other enhancements, but they do not have the poleng overlay. The metal overlay of the cenangan usually incorporates protective symbolism that fills the gap left by the absence of the poleng motif.

In fact there is some doubt that the grantim was available to all the Triwangsa, as the Triwangsa is comprised of the Brahmin, K'satriya and Wesia, but the Wesia are traders, and in reality sit lower than the Brahmin and K'satriya.

The hierarchical systems in Bali are not easy to understand, it is not simply a matter of caste (in fact the Dutch intensified the caste system) there are other ranking systems that can place a man or woman of relatively humble means above a recognised lord, dependent upon the context. I suggest a reading of "Secrets of Bali" --- Murni & Copeland for a good explanation of this. Thus a person of high standing in one context need not be materially wealthy.

It is incorrect to believe that older grantim were only found in gold, and only had a woven metal covering. Lalu Djelenga notes that silver and brass woven coverings do exist, but are rare, he was writing around 20 years ago. I have owned old grantim hilts in both silver and brass where the poleng pattern had been produced by embossing. The brass one had the appearance of age, and I had owned it for around 20 or 30 years, but the silver embossed one had previously been in the possession of the Badung Puri, and very probably dated from the late 19th century or early 20th century. The silver one had been fire-gilded.

As with much Javanese/Balinese symbolism, nothing is simple and straightforward. Symbolism in these cultures is often multi-symbolism, and the world view is dualistic, that is to say, it is seen in terms of opposites, and this is the symbolism of the poleng motif:- good/bad, day/night, mountain/sea, man/woman --- and so on. Nothing can ever be understood as a singularity, there must be balance.

In use, the poleng is wrapped around a number of things, but in the case of shrines and statues, only Durga is wrapped with the poleng, only a shrine dedicated to Durga is wrapped with the poleng. The function of the keris hilt can be understood to be protective, the protection being put in place to protect against the entry of an evil entity to the shrine that is the keris. Thus, if we understand the grantim in the context of a protective deity, then it can be understood as a symbolic representation of Durga.

When a man wears the poleng, the function of the cloth is protective.

If we understand the grantim as representative of Durga, and we recognise the symbolism of the poleng, then we immediately recognise the duality of Durga as both the Nurturing Mother and the Deity of Death, this in turn links Durga to Dewi Sri ( see Jordan), and then there is the Nyai Loro Kidul association, this especially applies in Bali where Durga is sometimes --- maybe often --- confused with Dewi Sri and Nyai Loro Kidul. This is perfectly understandable, as Dewi Durga was originally a goddess of vegetation, and as we all know, Dewi Sri is the goddess of rice and fertility --- and also the opposite, so once again duality.

Are little curls on the top of keris hilts simple ornamentation?

No, they are not, but they do require just a slight understanding of the culture and society that has produced them, in order to see them as they can be seen by people from that culture and society.

Bjorn has suggested an association between the Javanese tunggak semi hilt and the cenangan of Bali. The idea is similar, and actually quite perceptive, but the physical representation must be viewed contextually:- the tunggak semi hilt in Jawa was the product of dividing the House of Mataram into Jogjakarta and Surakarta. Jogjakarta became the "new shoot on the old stump/branch" (ie, "tunggak semi"), and that name alone came to the hilt, in Bali we have a physical representation of an idea. In Bali there was no Dutch interference to divide royal houses, in fact, the whole societal system differed, so although the grantim can be viewed in a similar physical way to the tunggak semi, the interpretation of symbolism is different.