Myths surround traditional dragger
By Rosa Widyawan
JAKARTA (JP): The kris is a traditional dagger found in Sumatra, Java, Bali and other islands of the archipelago.
People wear kris in different ways. Most Sumatrans wear kris in front of their bodies and slip them in their belts. But the Javanese manner of wearing a kris is to strap it on the backside. Javanese also refer to kris as wingkingan, because it is worn wingking (back side). Ancient Javanese knights, in emergencies, wore the knife in front of their belly, making them ready for combat.
The word kris is probably derived from iris, meaning to cut. However, the dagger can be used for both cutting and stabbing because its two-sided blade is exceptionally sharp and pointed at the tip. In high Javanese, the weapon is called duwung or curigo.
Many believe some kris have magical powers and are inspired by the spirit of ancestors. They have the power to guard owners from evil, disaster or illness. In other cases, they bring luck, happiness and prosperity. They conduct a ceremony to wash their kris during the first month of the Javanese lunar year -- with offerings consisting of selected flowers, rice, fruit and incense to preserve the supernatural power of the kris.
There is a myth about Kyai Condong, a bad-tempered Majapahit kris that can leave its sheath by its own power. During the night the dagger used to leave the palace in search of victims in order to drink their blood. Its wrongdoing was discovered by three good sacred kris, which forced Kyai Condong to crush it to grit. The grit then rose into the air and joined with a comet. Since then kris makers use meteorite in the welding of blades.
Kris makers are called empu, which means master of craft, scholar, poet and outstanding artist. Empu are considered people with supernatural powers. This is the reason their work also has such power embodied with the kris through pamor symbols which characterize its nature. Pamor means metal-alloy in which nickel and non-nickel metal are smithed together.
"Before the Mataram sultanate era in Yogyakarta and Surakarta, Central Java, an empu made a kris only under a royal command. After the reign of Sultan Agung, many kris, swords and spears were manufactured said Ronin Hidayat, a traditional weapon collector.
"The kris is a unique article; there is no similar pamor in different kris, because it was made manually," he continued. On the other hand, Moebirman noted there are five main pamor motifs of flora, each of which has a special meaning. For example, wos wutah (scattered rice grains) is a symbol of prosperity, sekar pala (nutmeg flower) and sekar ngadek (standing flower) symbolize justice, blarak ngirid (coconut leaves) symbolize authority or leadership and sekar temu (temu flower) is a symbol of mutual love. Moebirman said there were many more variations of the above main pamor.
The dapur (face) as well as the appearing motif of the blade are important aspects in the production of a kris. Uneven numbers are chosen for the total of curves at the kris blade.
There are kris with straight blades, called wilah bener (straight stick) or sarpa tapa (resting snake). This kind of kris is used by priests and ascetics. The straight kris is considered the first generation of kris, and it was innovated by Empu Ramadhi.
On the other hand, the kris with sinuous blades are called sarpa lumaku (walking snake).
To manufacture the dagger, an empu must have both technical skills and an artistic sense of metal crafting. More importantly, he must be able to stand working in high temperatures.
Mastering applied metallurgy is an important requirement for an empu, because kris is made of iron, steel and nickel. In addition, an empu must constantly concentrate on his job. He has to lift the metal before the melting point, or his endeavors will be useless. If he is late to forge, the temperature of the metal will drop and be difficult to form.
The process of manufacturing kris includes preparations of materials, heating them for mixing, forging and folding, forming a pamor, forming its curve and coating. The empu needs at least two and a half months to make a kris -- one month for forging and the rest for making curves, carving kris engravings, and pewarangan to poison it with arsenic. The process of manufacturing the blade is then followed by making hafts and sheaths.
Both kris hafts and sheaths are made of fine wood, such as katimoho, pelet, kemuning and aromatic sandalwood. Less valued sheaths are made of galih jati, the inner part of teakwood, or awar-awar. Quite often, wooden handles and sheaths are covered with copper and silver. Those belonging to the rich or noblemen are often wrapped in gold. Before working on the material, it is first prepared in order to make it suitable to the most delicate carving.
Kris sheaths consist of a widened-out mouth piece called warangka, gandar (a cylinder-like container for a kris blade) and pendok, a metal wrapper. The haft is a cylindrical wood consisting of endas (head) weteng (stomach), and bungkul (knob). Parts of the haft are beautifully engraved.
The cost of manufacturing a kris is relatively expensive. To make one, an empu needs 14 kilos of iron, five ounces of pure steel, one ounce of nickel and 150 kilos of charcoal. These materials cost more than Rp 1 million (US$418). It is not surprising that a new kris can cost as much as Rp 2.5 million.
Some people believe kris not only to be weapons but also family heirloom symbols and status symbols. Others consider kris to be works of art. Anybody can order an empu to make one, or they can be bought in Jakarta at antique and craft stores on Jl. Surabaya, Kemang, Ciputat or in the Sarinah department store.
Not all kris are expensive. Relatively cheap ones can be found in Pasar Jatinegara, South Jakarta. There are dozens of kris stalls offering various kinds at Rp 50,000 to Rp 10 million.