Rare Nayar sword from Malabar South India

A very nice and scarce Nayar sword from the Malabar coast of South India, mounted for temple use. The blade is of very fine quality, a fighting level blade of very good forged steel with subtle facets to both faces and a very sharp curved inner edge and sharpened back edge. It seems likely that the blade is a genuine fighting piece from the quality, the extensive brass mounts typical of southern indian swords may or may not be an adaptation for temple ritual use, or they may in fact be part of the original fighting piece. The large brass blade mounts are beautifully shaped, layered and pierced in the form of the flame kundalini shakti, the guard is four lobed with a central ‘eye’ to each quarter, the pommel featuring layers of brass and alternate steel rings with applied diamond shaped brass jingles. Along the back of the blade have been added a row of iron weights or jingles.A very rare sword probably dating to the 18th century, surviving in wonderful condition, a few jingles missing. indo persian