Traditional kris plays crucial role in Balinese society
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.