Krises no longer only mystical symbols

Krises no longer only mystical symbols

Blontank Poer, The Jakarta Post, Surakarta, Central Java

The wavy double-bladed kris, or keris as it is known locally was, in the past, a weapon mostly used in war.

That accounts for why it was made to possess lethal power, and was often smeared with deadly poison to ensure a certain death for an enemy stabbed with one.

A kris, too, was believed to have supernatural power and only certain people were considered to have the ability to look after it.

So sacred was a kris, that a kris maker, known as an empu, was required to perform a special ritual before making one.

But that is all history. At present, it may be difficult to find a kris that has been made in accordance with the standard requirements applied by the empu of the Pajajaran to the Demak kingdom dynasties (from the 12th century to the 15th century).

At that time, a kris had to have an odd number of waves, or luk as they are called, with a maximum of 13.

Kris-making rules, as well as the function and form, began to change following the fall of the Demak Kingdom.

Since then, krises are no longer made by using standard classical dhapur (forms) and pamor (motifs added to both sides of the blade).

It does not require an empu to make one, either. Kris artists come and go with various modified, innovative creations, motifs and even raw materials.

A kris now serves more as an accessory for traditional attire.

It was the latter category of kris that were recently exhibited at the Art Gallery of the Central Java Cultural Center in Surakarta. Four kris artists from Surakarta, namely Hajar Satoto, Aan Sudarwanto, Yantono and Agus Daliman, were involved in the week-long exhibition.

Today's kris, according to Hajar Satoto, or Totok as he is affectionately called, is much simpler and easier to make, especially due to the raw material used, compared to those of earlier centuries.

The ancient kris, he said, was made mostly of heavy metal such as titanium and meteorite, which have extremely high melting points, such that it took months to make.

Today's krises, by contrast, are made mostly of iron or steel, which have a much lower melting point, hence they need only about three days to a week to make.

"People today are no longer capable of making a kris produced from both titanium and meteorite. We cannot bear the extremely high melting points," Totok said.

Totok and his three fellow kris-makers participating in the exhibition are among the numerous kris makers living in Surakarta at present. There are at least 20 craftsmen who produce krises of various forms, motifs and quality.

The number of kris makers in the region is mostly due to the high demand for krises, especially during the peak season of traditional wedding ceremonies or other traditional events, including the coronations of local palace rulers, both at Surakarta Palace and Mangkunegaran Principality, or their anniversaries.

Ceremonies held by the Surakarta Palace to bestow noble titles on particular members of the community also require that the recipients and guests wear complete Javanese traditional attire, including the kris, as an accessory. In fact, such an event is usually attended by at least 500 guests including recipients.

In a Javanese traditional wedding ceremony, at least 10 krises are needed, one each for the groom, the fathers of the bride and groom, the male relatives of both the bride and the groom, and ushers.

The higher the social status of a family, usually the greater the number of ushers it will assign at its wedding ceremony.

It is not surprising, therefore, that dozens of kris traders, who sell their merchandise at Surakarta Palace Alun-Alun Utara (North Square) claim to be able to sell three to five krises per day at Rp 500,000 to Rp 2.5 million apiece, depending on the quality.

Most of the krises sold there are not made in Surakarta. They are mostly brought in from Sumenep, Madura island, and their quality is considered to be much lower than those made in Surakarta.

"A Surakarta-made kris is more expensive compared with those made in Madura," said Sugiyatno, a kris trader at Alun-Alun Utara.

The raw materials and technique used to make the kris are believed to be the reason why krises made in Surakarta are much more expensive than those from Madura.

Surakarta krises are produced from a mixture of steel (for the dagger) and nickel (for the pamor) and are fabricated with the heat of burning coconut shell.

Madura krises are made of iron and use a welding technique, not the heat from burning coconut shell.

A different heating system has a different character and yields a different result. That's why both the quality and price of the two types of kris are different," said Totok, adding that a Sumenep-made kris needed a relatively smaller amount of raw materials as well as less time to make.

"It's not surprising, therefore, if Sumenep kris makers can make more than one kris per day, it explains why their krises are cheaper," Totok said.

If Sumenep krises are sold for Rp 250,000 to Rp 2.5 million each, Surakarta ones fetch more than Rp 2.5 million.

This, of course, is not the kind of kris that collectors will likely be looking for. As collectors' items, ancient krises made by an empu are still the most sought after.

Those collected by palace museums such as at Surakarta Palace, Yogyakarta Palace and Mangkunegaran Principality fall into this category.

The older a kris is, the more expensive it will be.

For this particular category, apart from its physical quality and the quality of the workmanship, the history of a kris also determines the price. The ones that formerly belonged to noted noble figures of the past will be extremely expensive.

Still, according to Totok, producing krises like the ones he and his colleagues in Surakarta have been creating so far is a relatively good way of making a living.

"The market is there and it's good. The price, too, is relatively good, so we can make a reasonable living from it," Totok said.