Picture for John Powell (a Ram Dao)

R

ruel

Joined
Nov 22, 1999
Messages
532
Hi John,

I owe you this picture from a while back, for the book:

jdl18_111.jpg


I hope to get a better, more dynamic picture of it later, but this'll at least give an idea of what it looks like. :cool:
 
Ruel, thanks for the picture. That style seems to be the most common of an uncommon weapon. Here are some that have been in my collection although I no longer own one. I had one that was oversized and a couple of the small versions that were made for dispatching doves. The two "billhook" models were both named and very detailed.
ramdao.jpg

The ram dao is an Indian weapon designed for sacrificing animals for various festivals. The various sizes and weights could easily lop off the head of a steer, goat, chicken or dove as mentioned. The earliest models were less adorned and while harder to find are less popular to collectors.
 
whay they look like a cross between a headsman's axe and beheading sword (even with the finial covering the backspike).

Keith
 
Thanks guys. Yeah, when I first started collecting weapons, this was one of my "must haves." They were always so expensive, but I managed to find one from a French dealer who mistook it for an "African sickle" and picked it up at about US$300.

It's affiliated with the wrathful goddess Kali, though in art I've only seen it represented in areas under Bengali Tantric Hindu influence (which includes Nepal).

Kali.jpg


Last year, I was corresponding with this bellydancer out in LA, who said she wanted to take pictures with my Ram Dao in her 'Kali'/'Kama Sutra' costume. Naturally, I thought that would be a good thing. :D

elayssa_blue.jpg


That's the reason for the delay -- I was hoping to get that done. But I haven't heard from her in a long time... :(
 
Last year, I was corresponding with this bellydancer out in LA, who said she wanted to take pictures with my Ram Dao in her 'Kali'/'Kama Sutra' costume.
Click to expand...
OK, I have a hundred bucks that says there is Nobody in any forum who has EVER posted a more fascinating single sentence with genuine knife content!
 
I keep posting it because I'm hoping it'll happen! I've also posted this pic, though it might not have been obvious it was the same girl.

daggers_1.jpg


Needless to say, she wears knives well. :D If we could ever get a khukuri in her hands, maybe we could adopt her as the official HI model or something!
 
Very nice Rod!

The top one especialy looks quite uncommon! Do you know if its Bengali or Nepali? What language is the writing?

Spiral
 
Spiral, The people at Oriental Arms think its Nepali , however Ben Slade put me on to someone who is attempting a translation but have not heard back from them when I do I will let you know, JP might know.
 
I have seen a least a half dozen of these and don't really know what to make of them. Each one was exactly like the other. Artzi (Oriental Arms) and I have discussed them as I have with other knowledgeable folks and have concluded that beyond their symbolic duties they were not used as a sacrificial weapon. They are made of a single piece of bronze but I am very hesitant to profer a date of manufacture. The "eye" at the blade's tip leads me to believe they are Nepali but the style seems more Indian. I cannot conclusively say what they are or their intended purpose.
 
I've been wondering about those long bronze r.d.'s as well. In several years of scouring images of Kali from the Bengali-Tantric culture area, I've never seen them depicted in art or in vintage photographs. Given their relative narrowness-to-length ratio, they don't seem capable of making ram dao-like beheading strokes.

Rod, is the one you show sharpened? And can you tell how it's made -- forged, ground, or cast? If you can get a close up of the inscription, I can have it translated (assuming it's in Bengali script).
 
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