Fifteenth Century Keris Dress

A. G. Maisey · 29th June 2019, 12:36 AM

Candi Sukuh is a 15th century Javanese Hindu candi that is located on the slopes of Mount Lawu, about an hour's drive from Solo, in Central Jawa.

I believe most students of the keris would be familiar with the famous Candi Sukuh Forge Stele, and a photo of that is shown below, but there are a number of other depictions of keris in the statuary and bas-reliefs scattered around the site.

One of the most interesting of these other reliefs is the one that shows a figure on his knees with a keris tucked into the sash (setagen) around his waist. This can be accepted as one of the ways a keris looked in a dress situation in the 1400's in Jawa.

We can learn quite a bit from the study of keris and other weaponry shown at Javanese historic sites.

The images below show a shot of the figure wearing a keris, a location shot of Candi Sukuh, a shot of the Forge Stele, and a location shot of the keris dress.

Much has been written about Candi Sukuh, one of the best papers is by Prof. Stanley O'Connor, this can be linked to here:-

https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstre...=1&isAllowed=y

29th June 2019, 12:36 AM	#1
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,697	Fifteenth Century Keris Dress Candi Sukuh is a 15th century Javanese Hindu candi that is located on the slopes of Mount Lawu, about an hour's drive from Solo, in Central Jawa. I believe most students of the keris would be familiar with the famous Candi Sukuh Forge Stele, and a photo of that is shown below, but there are a number of other depictions of keris in the statuary and bas-reliefs scattered around the site. One of the most interesting of these other reliefs is the one that shows a figure on his knees with a keris tucked into the sash (setagen) around his waist. This can be accepted as one of the ways a keris looked in a dress situation in the 1400's in Jawa. We can learn quite a bit from the study of keris and other weaponry shown at Javanese historic sites. The images below show a shot of the figure wearing a keris, a location shot of Candi Sukuh, a shot of the Forge Stele, and a location shot of the keris dress. Much has been written about Candi Sukuh, one of the best papers is by Prof. Stanley O'Connor, this can be linked to here:- https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstre...=1&isAllowed=y Attached Images