Gurkha Machete — Khukuri

Khukuri represents four great virtues of life i.e., Honour, Dignity, Courage and Loyalty. It is a curved blade knife used as a weapon or a tool which is originated from the Indian subcontinents. It closely resembles the -Kopis, a Greek knife and also ancient Japanese swords which have some of the distinguished features of khukuri. Exact history and sources are still up for debate. The oldest existing khukuri belonged to the Drabya shah (the king of Gorkha) in 1627 AD ,kept in National museum of Nepal, Kathmandu .The khukuri was known to the western world from the war between the British in India and the Gorkha army in western Nepal back in 1814–1816. After this , khukuri came to be amongst the most popular unarmedcombat weapon in the world. Burton (1884) writes that a khukuri -like falchion inscribed with writing in pali was housed in British museum. Dracula, a novel by Irish author Bram Stoker in 1897 also gave khukuri a literary attention. It is the symbol of prized possession of Gorkha soldier who have fought various wars in different terrain including historic World War I & World War II .Khukuri is the characteristic weapon of Gorkha regiments in India and different Gorkha army of the world. All Gorkha armies are issued with two khukuri, one being ceremonial and other for exercise /combat. This weapon has the unique distinction of being the only ancient battle weapon still in use in the field today which can be seen as aabsolute unique in the entire history of edged weaponry. The “Biswakarma” are the traditional inheritors who are well known for making the world famous ‘khukuri ‘ ,who have been forging this since many generations. Khukuri are of three types — shirupatha, baspatha and buduna ( slightly heavy).Types of khukuri are named after the shapes of leaves. The strength of khukuri can be seen on the slashing edge and not in the weight of the khukuri. Good skilled artisans are needed to give the khukuri a right balance and edge. Two little knives are featured with the khukuri one being ‘Karda’ and the other ‘chakmak’. Each one as different aspects, to sharpen the khukuri and to cut small things karda is present while chakmak is used to start a fire using stones and some fibres . The scabbard of the khukuri or Dabh (a local name for the cover)are made of wood and metal stripes in it and also the leather work can be seen in scabbard sometimes. Meanwhile the artisans does not include the karda and chakmak as people tend to carry only the khukuri nowadays which leads to the absence ofcomplete set. Kaudi (notch) at the base of the blades of a khukuri signifies the powerful Hindu symbol “OM” and also signifies cows hoof. Kaudi is seen as a sighting device to capture enemy’s view to behead him and also to lock the sword of enemy in it to disarm him .Amongst the many reasons practically it is there to drop off the blood from the blade without making the handle slippery. The handles of the khukuri are often made of hardwood and butt plates are made of brass or steel. The khukuri is also used as multi-purpose tool like cutting woods for fire, cutting meats and vegetable, other farm and household activities. It is used in traditional rites such as wedding, Dasai, Bhai-Tika. Whereas in sacrificial rituals such as maar and kul puja (offered to ancestors) a khukuri must have a single clean shot otherwise it is believed to bring misfortune.

Khukuri is one of the major things which you will find in every house of the Gorkha community. To safeguard a family mentally and religiously ,the khukuri is believed to have a spiritual power to scare off evils and also is kept under the pillow of the people facing sleeping disorder .A khukuri which once belonged to a man is kept in his absence. One can buy it as a souvenir, for their closed ones or friends while travelling to the places of the Nepalese people. To conclude khukuri can be seen as a guardian and a boon to the Nepalese community.

Originally published at https://kurseonghill.blogspot.com.