pacul goang and gadung melati

[Raden Usman Djogja]

dear David,

it is surprising me that there is gadung melati in bali. surprising because as I heard before, gadung melati musical composition is quite new. it was compossed during pakubuwono IV era (1768-1820). so, if there is gadung melati in bali version, it should have been existed long before Pakubuwono IV (for instance it has been existed since Majapahit era).

according to wearing or unweiring keris? David, in that youtube I think it was still in rehearsal. Even only rehearsal, they tended to play very carefull compared with balinese music as usual. from this youtube I have broader information that gadung melati is exist not only in Jawa, surakarta especially, but also in Bali island.

perhaps if any kerislovers are able to upload in youtube gadung melati javanese version?

finally, David, what information I shared as I said is still debatable. However, even it is still debatable, I think it is interesting And who knows in this forum there will be clearer information/understanding.

warm salam,
OeS

[David]

Originally Posted by Raden Usman Djogja

according to wearing or unweiring keris? David, in that youtube I think it was still in rehearsal. Even only rehearsal, they tended to play very carefull compared with balinese music as usual. from this youtube I have broader information that gadung melati is exist not only in Jawa, surakarta especially, but also in Bali island.

Just to be clear, my observation was not intended to put your assertion in doubt. I was just hoping to see someone with a keris in the video.
Your explanation that the absence of keris might be because this is merely a rehearsal is quite reasonable.
This information certainly is interesting and learning about how keris fits into the culture and day-to-day lives of Indonesians (or how it did in the past) is far more intriguing to me than merely being able to distinguish one pamor or dhapur from another.

[Raden Usman Djogja]

dear David,

seemingly, we dont have an opportunity to enjoy pacul goang and gadung melati music composition yet. by this fact, do we assume that these two music compositions are quite sacred? on the contrary, are these compositions not quite popular?

about popular performance arts in Javanese culture. KETOPRAK (javanese opera [?]) is very popular. I heard longtime ago that It was not advised to use real keris during performing a role in ketoprak. Even you were important person in society (a president) whilst you had important role in ketoprak performance (a king), you were still not advised to use a real pusaka. WHY?

warm salam,
OeS

[PenangsangII]

in fact, out of respect, real pusaka keris should not be used for any demo or performances like ketoprak. It is widely believed that the performers were in trance / possessed by "certain spirits" (though not 100%) that may cause accidents, in fact the performance itself may be participated by unknown spirit/s similar to kuda kepang performance. If a real pusaka keris were to be trained at somebody, the "isi" would interprete it as killing intent, in ketoprak or whatever performances notwithstanding.

[Raden Usman Djogja]

dear Penangsang,

in my hometown, a (dalang) shadow puppetter usually wears a keris when he performs. some people believe that a dalang is not only an entertainer but also a guru.

still in my hometown, in my childhood there were thieves during the nights. for some people, live was not so easy at that time. they should do wrongdoing. for instance, if there was a thief in your rice grannary last night, you can distinguish what kind thief he was. If he stolen all rice in grannary, he was a criminal who was anti-social and immoral. If he just stolen 2/3 of your rice, the thief was, actually, a good person but he did it because of no other job to feed him and, perhaps, his family member. It was believed that the thief would only pick 1/3 of your rice to feed his family. The rest, 1/3, would be donated to others whom were poorer than him.

at that time, the aviability of policemen were few compared with the wide of the region. neighbourhood had an activity to guard their region. however, thieves were always one step ahead.

in pursuing to solve that problem, some people tried to have a keris or a spear-point, especially which had pamor "tundung".

warm salam,
OeS