Keris and Other Weapons of Indonesia

THE KUDI OR KUJANG

by Mr. Moebirman

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.