Kailash Blades
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2015
- Messages
- 783
Things are pretty quiet at Kailash Blades right now with all the lockdowns in Nepal so we've been having a dig through some of the antiques our team owns and sharing them around. Our head of operations is a man called Bisnu thapa and he had this pretty interesting Kora in his possession.
For those who aren't aware this style of sword is the second most famous of nepal behind the khukuri and still has a lot of mystery surrounding it's design, origins and how these were actually used. The inside of the curve is the sharpened section which gives you an insight into the way these were used as a weapon and how they would feel. The vast majority, especially in the last century or so were sacrificial and ceremonial blades, though they had their origins being fearsome fighters like this beforehand.
If you look at this comparative image here you can see the extreme differences between these two styles of Kora. The lower ceremonial blade is much broader and heavier with an enormous "elephants ear" at the bottom. This type of blade is a sign of the owner's power and may also have been used to decapitate buffalo, goats etc during Dashain and other hindu festivals. Fighters and ceremonial blades alike would chop hard just before the blade strongly begins curving and then convert that momentum into a draw cut by pulling into the hooked section. Note the small portion of belly before the tip, which aids in blade release once this has finished.
They usually have an interesting cast steel handle which is hollow throughout with the tang peened at the end. The ornamental pommels on these blades seem designed with counterweight in mind which contrasts greatly with khukuris which have generally never concerned themselves with the notion. These handles were often wrapped with wire, twine or leather in intricate patterns which helped to provide an aggressive grip. There are examples with Tulwar style handles, though these are less Himalayan and more Indian blades.
This particular Kora of Bisnu's is almost 100 years old (very recent for a blade of this pattern) and was made by Bisnu's forefather at an army camp as a self defence weapon, just how you might carry a revolver in the wild west. It kept him safe then and has been passed down since as a ceremonial blade that is worshipped as a central part of their dashain traditions. You can see the decades of tika and blessings as the red and yellow near the tip. Hope this has been interesting and you've learned a thing or two about these captivating and deadly himalayan swords!
Take care,
Andrew and the team at Kailash Blades.
For those who aren't aware this style of sword is the second most famous of nepal behind the khukuri and still has a lot of mystery surrounding it's design, origins and how these were actually used. The inside of the curve is the sharpened section which gives you an insight into the way these were used as a weapon and how they would feel. The vast majority, especially in the last century or so were sacrificial and ceremonial blades, though they had their origins being fearsome fighters like this beforehand.
If you look at this comparative image here you can see the extreme differences between these two styles of Kora. The lower ceremonial blade is much broader and heavier with an enormous "elephants ear" at the bottom. This type of blade is a sign of the owner's power and may also have been used to decapitate buffalo, goats etc during Dashain and other hindu festivals. Fighters and ceremonial blades alike would chop hard just before the blade strongly begins curving and then convert that momentum into a draw cut by pulling into the hooked section. Note the small portion of belly before the tip, which aids in blade release once this has finished.
They usually have an interesting cast steel handle which is hollow throughout with the tang peened at the end. The ornamental pommels on these blades seem designed with counterweight in mind which contrasts greatly with khukuris which have generally never concerned themselves with the notion. These handles were often wrapped with wire, twine or leather in intricate patterns which helped to provide an aggressive grip. There are examples with Tulwar style handles, though these are less Himalayan and more Indian blades.
This particular Kora of Bisnu's is almost 100 years old (very recent for a blade of this pattern) and was made by Bisnu's forefather at an army camp as a self defence weapon, just how you might carry a revolver in the wild west. It kept him safe then and has been passed down since as a ceremonial blade that is worshipped as a central part of their dashain traditions. You can see the decades of tika and blessings as the red and yellow near the tip. Hope this has been interesting and you've learned a thing or two about these captivating and deadly himalayan swords!
Take care,
Andrew and the team at Kailash Blades.
