P a t r e m -- The Smaller Keris

[ganjawulung]

Originally Posted by David

So does anybody know who these women were who owned keris. It doesn't seem that there were meant for just any woman. Was it reserved for a certain societial class of women or would, for instance, the farmers wife have one? Very little seems to have been written about just how these blades fit into Indonesian culture.

Dear David,
It seems very rare, women in Java seen in public with keris. Except in "wayang orang" (traditional theater of wayang) in Central and East Java. Or in royal dance in palaces. But fortunately, I found a picture in one documentation which shows a woman wearing a wedung. The text shows that a woman-bupati (a royal or governor officer in charge of a regency) is wearing a wedung in the complete royal uniform.

Wedung itself, called as "pasikon" in royal term. In the text, it is meant for a high rank officer -- from the rank of regent to upper rank. Pasikon is also meant for Pangeran putra sentana (younger nobleman).

Ganjawulung