Keris Ligan

[A. G. Maisey]

Yes, Brekele is correct in his interpretation of "ligan", when the word is used in Javanese.

I believe that correctly ngliga means "without a shirt", which is what "ora kelamben" also means, so its not "without clothes", but "without a shirt". Still, near enough.

Again in Javanese "ngliga" when applied to a weapon, means "to unsheath" (the weapon).

Ligan correctly means "unsheathed", not lacking sheath, but removed from the sheath, so in Javanese, a keris ligan is an unsheathed keris.

However, the ligan as weapon is a Bali/Lombok creation.

Here is what Lalu Djelengga says about it:-

KERIS PEDANG/LIGAN

Adalah keris lurus berbentuk pedang, atau pedang berbentuk keris.Disebut keris karena pangkalnya seperti keris,lengkap dengan ganjanya, dan disebut pedang karena bilahnya seperti bentuk pedang. Baik bahan maupun tata cara pembuatannya sama dengan pola pembuatan keris ,sehingga dipastikan berpamor dan berisi, tentu saja selama sementara belum ada kegiatan pemalsuan.
Biasanya masih diberikan sarung seperti wrangka keris.

A loose translation of this would be:-

There is a straight keris that is shaped like a pedang, or a pedang that is shaped like a keris. Its called a keris because basically its like a keris, complete with ganja, and called a pedang because its blade is like the shape of a pedang. Its material, and the way it is made is the same as a keris, while it certainly has pamor and is "berisi" ( has some sort of spirit in it---AM) it is certain that there is not yet any activity to make fakes.
Normally it is given a wrongko like a keris.

I only know the name from what Lalu Djelenga has written, but he seems to know and understand Bali/Lombok weaponry better than adequately, so for myself, I'm more than prepared to accept his assurance that this is the name for it in Bali/Lombok.

I've seen a couple of types of these ligan things. some have a blade that is very keris-like except for the absence of a gandik and blumbangan, and some fancy file work directly under the ganja; others have half the back edge of the blade without an edge.