Myths surround traditional dragger

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.