Traditional kris plays crucial role in Balinese society

By Garret Kam

DENPASAR (JP): From ancient to contemporary times, the kris has played an important role in all aspects of Balinese society. More than just a weapon, these daggers have adapted to changing cultural, religious and political needs and situations. Daggers, whether forged by human hands, or of supernatural origin, are believed to be tangible manifestations and active personifications of cosmic forces.

A Balinese kris is forged in fire and has strong ties with water, representing the creative union of cosmic complementary opposites. A straight blade is seen as a slumbering serpent with latent power, while a wavy blade, a naga (water serpent in motion, is aggressive and alive. Naga are associated with the fertile aquatic realm of irrigation canals, dams, lakes, seas, rivers, springs, wells, spouts, waterfalls, precipitation, rainbows, clouds, and underground sources of water.

There is always an odd number of curves to a blade, from three up to a rare twenty-five. The most common number of curves are seven, nine and eleven. A Balinese kris may even have a naga head carved near its base with the body and tail following the sinuous curves of the blade to the tip.

In Bali, if ancestors are venerated and deified, their spirits become part of inherited objects and accumulate with the birth and death of successive generations. Weapons often play critical roles in the rise and fall of families and fortunes, and so therefore become the home of ancestral forces. The kris is the most important family possession and is considered to be a tangible ancestral deity.

Many kris are so sacred that they are given proper names descriptive of their powers, a common practice throughout Indonesia. The figurative and poetic names illustrate the varied powers and characters of the heirlooms.

There are numerous words for daggers in Bali. The Old Javanese or Kawi root selet as the verb seletekan (orderly, arranged) is used in modern Balinese as seletan, saselet or paselet from the root selet (to insert something at the waist). The Hindu churika is a dagger or sacrificial knife associated with terrifying female deities. The Kawi terms are curiga and curik. In Balinese the phrase di uri iga (behind the ribs) is abbreviated to duriga; the nasalization of this into an active verb results in nuriga and describes how a kris is worn, which is very close to nyuringa (to wear a dagger). The Kawi duhung (dagger), which in modern Balinese is duhung, duung or duwung(stab or wound made with a dagger) has a derivative verb form maduung (to regret).

Another common Kawi word used in Bali is kadga. In Buddhism the khadga is a flaming sword which destroys ignorance and is a symbol of enlightenment. The Hindu khadga is also a sword and symbolizes wisdom, the battle against ignorance, and the forces of destruction. Other Kawi terms are suduk, tewek and tuhuk, their verbal forms are (a)nuduk, (m)anewek and (m)anuhuk (to stab, wound, injure), in addition to the closely related sunduk as the verb manunduk (to stab). Modern Balinese has the words nyuduk (to stab) and a derivative form sasuduk (direction, goal, meaning, intention), tehek (to be continuously struck by misfortune), and tuuk or tuwuk (to push, urge, stimulate, shove, force, nudge). This final term has other meanings as the active verb nuukin or nuwukin (to give all that is asked for) and the passive form katuukan or katuwukan (to have all desires or passions fulfilled).

A special dagger for women called a patrem in Kawi and Balinese has a derivative papatrem (tempted, seduced, captivated, sexually aroused). Another kind of small dagger for a woman is a sundrik, which is worn in the hair and used for self-defense or suicide if necessary.

Kris is a refined term, but kadutan is used in common speech in modern Balinese. The root kadut (to insert something in the sash or belt) refers to how the dagger usually is worn. From the same root comes pakadut (a dowry ). A kadutan is inherited by a married son. A high caste man who marries a low caste woman may send his dagger to the ceremony as his representative. The related root is duta (emissary, delegate) and its derivative kadutan (delegation). A similar term, kaduta (fetus, unborn child) has associations with latent power, slumbering life, and ancestral souls about to be reborn.

Related to this belief of accumulated ancestral powers in daggers is tosan aji. This is derived from the Kawi words tus (descendant, origin, reincarnation, flow, blood), appearing in modern Balinese as tos and its related totosan (descendant), and aji (father, king, knowledge). That blood appears illustrates the two roles a kris has: the continuation and termination of life. The term kawitan (origin, ancestor), which comes from the Kawi roots awit (beginning, origin) or wit (tree, base) sometimes is applied to sacred heirloom daggers known as keris kawitan and indicates the importance of genealogies. The verbal from of wit is amit (to disturb, tempt) and may relate to the potentially negative power of heirloom daggers. Another related Kawi root is kawit (precise, beat viciously), which indicates how a dagger is forged.

A sacred heirloom dagger generally is referred to as a keris pajenengan, from the Kawi word jeneng (to stand) and its derivative verb nyeneng and jumeneng (to reign, hold an office) or the High Balinese form nyeneng (to live, become king). A dagger with magical origins -- rising from the sea, falling from the sky -- is called keris tiban, from the root tiba (to appear suddenly). A specific kind of dagger is called baru or babaru, indicating some sort of ritual or religious function for such daggers sharing the same name.

While the scabbard and hilt of the sheath may be made of rare woods or ivory and adorned with precious metals and fine gemstones, the most important part of the dagger is the power- laden blade. Potentially harmful vibrations emanating from the dagger are kept under control by the sheath which also protects the blade from negative external influences. A cloth bag, roughly in the form of a large kris in its sheath and sometimes made of magically protective kain poleng (black and white checkered cloth), further shields against dust and damage.

Only certain days during the Balinese 210-day pawukon ritual cycle are favorable to start work on a powerful dagger. A consecrated metalsmith inscribes sacred syllables with a golden needle on the various metals to be used, and various prayers are recited at specific times, accompanied by the sprinkling of holy water. To ensure that a really powerful blade is produced, the metalsmith also draws a special magical diagram with arsenic on the metal. This charm is activated with ritual incantations and red offerings. Red is associated with Brahma, the Hindu God of creation, whose element is fire.

A newly forged kris is finished with the acidic juice of citrus fruits and different types of whetstones to bring out the contrast between the dark black iron and the light silvery nickel layers which together form the pamor, damascene patterns on the blade. These patterns are given specific names which have special powers. A new dagger is brought to life by a priest during a special mapasupati ceremony of empowerment during which it is purified, blessed, inscribed with sacred symbols, and presented with offerings. Once a blade is empowered it must be treated with respect and given a place of honor to reside, usually in a temple shrine or other suitable place for an heirloom. A kris and other metal objects are presented with offerings every 210 days on Tumpek Landep, the Saturday of the week called Landep, which means sharp.

On this special day, which fell on May 25 this year, sacred weapons are cleaned and displayed in temple shrines. Offerings neutralizing harmful forces and asking for forgiveness are made to the dagger and its male owner. This is followed by worship to Sanghyang Pasupati, a manifestation of Siva, the God of destruction and reincarnation, for a sharp mind. This deity empowers all sacred objects and defeats ignorance. Motorbikes and cars, modern symbols of power and status, are also presented with offerings because they are made of metal and can bring fortune or mishap. Some Balinese jokingly call this day Tumpek Honda or Tumpek BMW, depending on what they own. With palm leaf ornaments flying up against windshields and obstructing views, one wonders about the safety risks of this practice.

Kris continue to be important in Balinese society in many aspects. As personifications of supernatural forces, they are symbols of power which have caused the rise and fall of human fortunes in the past, well into the present, and most likely into the future.