Chillanum
Full Description:
A long, slender elegant weapon known as a Chillanum. It is 17th Century from the Deccan plateu, South-West India.
A wonderful piece of workmanship, it is made from a single piece of steel and has a goddess like ‘tribhanga’ (triply flexed) profile.
The distinctive hilt has an attractive pommel with an acorn shaped finial. A lower bulbous knop and a larger one of similar shape sitting in the centre of the waisted hilt.
The re-curving blade is cut and chased at the forte in the shape of two ferocious Makara or Yali with extending trunks. The thick strong blade is deeply fluted further highlighting the skill of the maker.
An almost identical example is kept in the Metropolitan Museum, New York (No.36.25.751) and is illustrated by Elgood, 2004, page 179 (No.16.36).