Posted by PD USA on 4/11/2007, 5:45 am, in reply to "Re: KUJANG KHAS SUNDA"
Message modified by board administrator 4/11/2007, 5:55 am
Written by Guru Brandt Hassan Ali and Guru Sean
> Stark
> Copyright 2003 Silat now! e-zine
> www.combat-silat.net
>
> It was since long prior to the Hindu Javanese
> period of civilization that Indonesian empu's or
> master smiths have produced the kudi (Javanese) or
> the kujang (sundanese) as a weapon of some mystical
> importance (as a kind of tumbal). Certain offerings,
> sajen-sajen, were carefully prepared for the service
> of the kujang (being the medium of the ancestral
> spirits) as much to evoke at regular times the 'good
> spirits' from the other world.
>
> Rituals were also carried out in due time, so that
> the people would be blessed with good health and
> fortune. The solemn ceremonies preceding the
> composition of works of art and its manifestations
> evidently prove that the Indonesian artists are
> conscious of the fact that art is closely related to
> the supernatural. The people of the past held the
> same opinion as they had a more or less primitive
> outlook upon life, which is generally referred to as
> a kind of animism. This animistic belief is founded
> so far on three basic principles:
>
> a. the belief in the existence of a 'soul matter',
> which can incorporate into a human body or a
> definite object, and which gives life to everything
> existing.
>
> b. the belief in an individual soul, which continues
> its existence after death.
>
> c. the belief in spiritual beings and deities,
> having human qualities, which are supposed to be
> able to influence mankind either harmfully or
> beneficially.
>
> Already Plato (427 - 347 B.C), the Greek
> philosopher, thought that all natural objects were
> imperfect representations or symbols of perfect
> divine ideas. But on the other hand, according to
> other philosophers, man endeavors through art to
> approach closer to these divine ideas than nature
> might accomplish to the beings of things, the
> transcending, ideal realities, than nature. And,
> this explains how, for instance, a painter or a
> sculptor succeeds in composing a. perfect picture of
> an object having beauty defects. Our irresistible
> impulse towards the perfect, beautiful and harmonic
> must, therefore, stand in direct correlation with
> the beings of mankind in whom has been created a
> notion of the existence of higher, esoteric spheres
> and, who, consciously or unconsciously, takes his
> inner feelings as the basis for every artistic
> endeavor. Religion or belief is the translation of
> the mind, and art the interpretation of the senses
> of this metaphysical notion.
>
> In this case the relation of religion to art is
> clearly evident from the meaning of each symbol with
> the so called pamor motifs, as also with the
> carvings of keris grips, and the various forms of
> the kudi.
>
> Form of the Kudi
>
> Various forms of the kudi or the kujang are found in
> places scattered over the country (the Alor islands,
> Java, Madura, Bali, Sumatra, Sulawesi, Kalimantan).
> and it seems that the bronze axes ever made during
> the Dong Song period before the beginning of our era
> have given form to the first kudi's or kujang's of a
> later period.
>
> As said before, the most ordinary kudi in Java and
> elsewhere resembles a deer's horn (tanduk kijang)
> branched into two side antlers. Some other kudi's
> look like a bird-head as regards its upper part.
> Pamor or damascening art is sometimes applied to the
> technique of forging with the production of the so
> called 'kudi pusaka'. Very scarce are those ones
> embellished with a cut out representing some wayang
> face in profile, which can be seen on the back of
> the blade's top (Semar figure).
>
> As a pusaka heirloom, the kudi is once kept in the
> collection of sacred weapons belonging to the kraton
> of the sultan Sepuh of Cirebon, and another one to
> the kraton of the sultan of Jogjakarta. The kudi
> belonging to the collection of the late Pangeran of
> Pamekasan (± 1853) is performed with 30 holes in the
> blade. The number of holes has its special meaning,
> and it is said that this corresponds with the number
> of merits of its bearer. Sometimes, the holes are
> filled with gold or with the so called besi kuning,
> which contains a supernatural force of some sort.
> Some explications are given on the subject, but they
> are rather confusing and no definite interpretation
> can be given till now.
>
> As a sacred weapon, the kudi can be seen in the
> hands of hermits on bas-reliefs of the famous
> Borobudhur temple in Central Java. It was also
> recorded that king Adityawarman (the first king of
> Minangkabau) has ever kept a kind of kudi as a
> state-weapon (1345-1375). The well known and mighty
> Prabu Siliwangi, king of Pajajaran has also
> possessed a sacred kujang, and this inspires the
> Siliwangi Army division of today to use it as a
> symbol of power and strength in the emblems. (3)
>
> Not unlike the keris pusaka, which has found its way
> throughout the life stories of our national heroes
> (a.o. Pangeran Diponegoro, Prabu Brawijaya, Untung
> Suropati, and others), so did the kudi or kujang, in
> a certain way, play its role as a weapon of mystical
> sense and as a symbol of sovereignty.
>
> Later on, this curious arm was made only after
> special order of the raja or the sultan concerned,
> and after first being inspired by the deities. The
> kudi forms part of the royal collection of sacred
> weapons, known by the name of ampitan in the
> Principalities of Central Java; it is a state-weapon
> of primary rank.
>
> However, after the propagation of the Islam since
> the 13th century in Indonesia, all forms of idolatry
> and superstition were soon in contradiction with the
> principles of the new religion. Hence, the proto
> type of the sacred kudi (kujang pusaka) gave only
> reason to some unknown metal workers toward the
> ingenious idea to use the basic structure of the
> weapon, merely for practical purposes. By deviating
> somewhat from the original form, a similar piece of
> work in the shape of a deer's horn (with two
> branches) was created yet bearing the same name soon
> as the master smiths found that the main form of the
> kudi should lend itself excellently to both chopping
> and paring some tough materials. In some way, this
> succeeding tool can be used effectively, for
> example, in taking out the copra form its tough rind
> and afterwards from its stone hard shell (batok
> kelapa). Nevertheless, it is evident from the
> foregoing that in whatever situation the kudi might
> be considered and adopted by the
> mass, the weapon has continued to exist although in
> another function than before and to develop further
> into various forms according to the traditional art
> of the people.
>
> During the ages of social and cultural progress in
> Indonesia, the kudi has changed gradually of its
> primary function, namely from a weapon of magic
> religious sense during the remotest past into a
> practical tool of the present. Beside the name of
> khodiq, the tool is also called caluk in Madura, and
> calok in Javanese. (2)
> The main difference between the kudi pusaka (as a
> state weapon) and the ordinary kudi (as a tool) lies
> only in the absence of pamor damascenings with the
> latter, as its intricate technique of forging has
> disappeared since the decline of the Majapahit
> kingdom.
>
> Footnotes
>
> (1) - to compare also with the verb kampit meaning
> to own something, to take possession of
>
> (2) - In a very special case the word caluk (from
> calui in Chinese) indicates a go-between who
> unfairly used to chop the smooth and easy course of
> business in order to make profit.
>
> (3) - Some experts in this field are inclined to
> associate the meaning of 'kujang' with that of
> 'kijang' by assuming that some corruption could take
> place within this scope, for, the main form of the
> ordinary kudi yet bears witness of itself.
>
> Written by Guru Brandt Hassan Ali and Guru Sean
> Stark
> Copyright 2003 Silat now! e-zine
> www.combat-silat.net
Message Thread:
« Back to thread