By Mehru Jaffer

Keris, the traditional Malay dagger has great historical and cultural significance. Long associated with the rich and the powerful it is an object of mystery, believed to possess spiritual power and the ability to protect the owner from physical harm and misfortune. During feudal times it was an indispensable part of royal regalia, a Malay symbol of pride, prestige and status symbol. The keris is an item of adornment and a token of spiritual strength decorated with prominent figures from Malay legends and folk tales and many a superstitious belief is spread about it. It is considered precious for its mystical powers.

According to Malaysia: Riches from the Golden Land, an exhibition opened in an ancient castle in environs neighboring Vienna, it is broadcast for the whole world to hear that the keris came into being in the 14th century when Hinduism held sway over many parts of South East Asia. There are carved relief more than 600 years old of Bhima clutching a keris.

At the ancient temple of Candi Sukoh near the Indonesian city of Surakarta (Solo) reliefs from 1364 show Bhima as a skilled metal worker in the act of forging a keris as Arjuna operates bellows to stoke a fire. The deity Vishnu is seen holding a keris while riding on the mythical Garuda bird as he pronounces blessings.
The exhibition is designed like an open house welcoming visitors in true Malay tradition to enter through the garden onto the verandah, into the family room, the study, courtyard, dinning area, kitchen, palace, bedroom and ending at the shrine with the last journey of all mortals. Exhibits brought here all the way from different parts of Malaysia proudly proclaim that the barter trade with India and China in camphor, beeswax, resin, rhinoceros horn, hornbill ivory, medicinal herbs and spices is 2000 years old. In the 7th century the province of Sarawak was influenced by the Buddhist empire of Sri Vijaya in southern Sumatra ruled by the Hindu Majapahit empire of Java that had a thriving link to the rulers of Pattaliputra in the heart of Bihar.

A Sanskrit inscription about a prince Mulavarnam indicates that Indian traders had reached the east coast of Borneo in the 5th century. And despite strong indigenous cultures the recorded history of Malaysia is lovingly linked to trade with the outside world and colonization. The Malays practiced their own religious beliefs but the early settlers of the northern coastal plains embraced Hinduism through contacts with Indian traders who also brought with them Hindu Buddhist arts.

The Malay continent remained a meeting place of vessels from India, the Middle East and China with the earliest humans having entered the region a million years ago. The presence of humanity in Malaysia dates back to 40,000 years. The Malays have been Muslim for many generations but Islam in its widespread and long development has absorbed many local practices and there exist within Malay culture elements that have little to do with Islam and more with Animism and Hinduism. 

Many Malays still keep alive their belief in semangat or the vital force and in spirits or ghosts which are said to inhabit trees and rivers, and to whom offerings are made. While building a house Malays still appease the spirit of the house and its site in order to safeguard the well being of the occupants in very Hindu and Chinese fashion.
In the section called The Study the oldest inscription is dated back to 682. Texts are found here to exemplify the close link between the Old Malay language and Sanskrit. Later Arabic widened the source of borrowed words and a stone inscription from 1303 outlines Islamic commandments carved in Sanskrit. The Cantonese and Hokkien speaking Chinese populations have also been absorbed into mainstream Malay and Chinese calligraphy is thriving today. 

The performing arts of the Malay world flowered with hundreds of years of contact with puppeteers from Java, opera troupes from China, singing and dancing sufis, Bombay’s Parsi thearte and films from Hollywood, Bollywood and Hong Kong. And today Islamic calligraphy has permitted animal motifs to creep blasphemously into its decorations, Chinese and Malays are often found to worship at Hindu shrines, especially those whose gods promise fecundity and prosperity while Hindu housewives freely decorate the floors of their homes with elaborate patterns in coloured powder at every Deepawali that is also a national holiday.

The question is if other cultures are so proud of their past and present contact with Hinduism why is it that some Hindus in India are so full of hate of cultures and people that are not Hindu?