Taming Sari???

[Neo]

When you search the google for images of the famous Malaysian icon of Majapahit origin, most results return with image of a luk 3 keris with a unique cucumber-shaped hilt, guilded with gems. Is that how the actual Taming Sari looks like?

[David]

Ah, Neo, my kingdom for a time machine...
When you google Jesus most images show you a guy with European features, often blondish and with blue eyes.
Like all legends that may or may not have historical reality, the truth about the form of the actual Taming Sari will probably be forever elusive. The one you describe is what is claimed to be the original currently in the royal regalia of Sultan Azlan Shah, the Sultan of Perak, Malaysia. But in some of the legends the keris was thrown into the river. The history of this blade is very muddled and i don't think anyone can say with any evidential certainty what is what. Is the one in the royal regalia the true keris? I guess it all a matter of what you choose to believe.
I would venture to say that even it the keris that is claimed to be Taming Sari is the original keris, it is most certainly not in it's original clothing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taming_Sari

[Amuk Murugul]

Hullo everybody!

It all boils down to a matter of faith .....

As far as I am concerned, Tameng Sari was the name of the Madja Pait warrior defeated by Hang Toeah and whose weapon was souvenired by same.

Best,

[David]

Originally Posted by Amuk Murugul

It all boils down to a matter of faith .....

As far as I am concerned, Tameng Sari was the name of the Madja Pait warrior defeated by Hang Toeah and whose weapon was souvenired by same.

Amuk, this is pretty much the established story, though i am not quite sure that "souvenir" would be exactly the correct term.
Neo's question is about what this keris may have looked like. Are you of the mind that the keris currently in regalia of the Sultan of Perak is actually this very keris or that it is still lost or missing? If indeed the keris of this regalia ia Taming Sari, then we know what form it takes.

[Amuk Murugul]

Originally Posted by David

Amuk, this is pretty much the established story, though i am not quite sure that "souvenir" would be exactly the correct term.
Neo's question is about what this keris may have looked like. Are you of the mind that the keris currently in regalia of the Sultan of Perak is actually this very keris or that it is still lost or missing? If indeed the keris of this regalia ia Taming Sari, then we know what form it takes.

Hullo David,

I tend to believe that I have an open and objective mind. I always wish that anything I think may be true were so.
However, I now tend to approach things with an open and objective mind slightly tempered with scepticism born of experience.
You may have some idea of the relief and exuberance I feel when something proves to be true.

WRT the keris in question (if indeed it WAS a keris) ..... as the Malays would say: Wallahualam (God knows)..... in the absence of incontravertible proof.

Best,

[David]

Originally Posted by Amuk Murugul

WRT the keris in question (if indeed it WAS a keris) ..... as the Malays would say: Wallahualam (God knows)..... in the absence of incontravertible proof.

Interesting...what else would you suggest it might have been? Have you heard stories suggesting it was anything else?