KERIS / KRIS / THE BLADE

The kris or keris is a distinctive, asymmetrical dagger indigenous to Indonesia, Malaysia, and the southern Philippines. Both a weapon and spiritual object, krisses are often considered to have an essence or presence, with some blades possessing good luck and others possessing bad.

Kris, when referring to an individual, indicates impending doom and this person should be avoided at all costs.

The kris spread from the island of Java to many parts of the archipelago of Indonesia, such as Sumatra, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, South Sulawesi, Kalimantan, and to the Southeast Asian areas now known as Malaysia, Brunei, southern Philippines, southern Thailand, and Singapore.

The blade is called the Wilah in Javanese and Mata in Malay. The prototype keris is the Keris Majapahit or Keris Sajen.

Unlike modern day hilts, the hilt of the Keris Majapahit is forged with the blade and always in the shape of a man, slightly crouching with his arms tucked into his side.

Keris Majapahit have long been considered a talisman, used more as a charm than as a weapon. Hence they have been and still are being produced after the fall of the Majapahit Empire. Most Keris Majapahit in existence today, post-date the Empire. Real old Keris Majapahit from the Empire period are very rare. Keris Majapahit do not have a Ganjah and most do not have a Telale Gadjah (these will be discussed in greater detail later). Modern or fully evolved kerises follow the general pattern of Keris Majapahit, but with greater elaboration in details.

Details of The Keris

Details of the Keris

Details of the Keris The details found at the bottom of the blade distinguishes the keris from other types of daggers.

1. Landep
Ngadjeng

2. Landep Wingking

3. Adaen

5. Sogokan Wingking

6. Sogokan Ngadjeng

7. Sorsoran

8. Adeg-Adeg

9. Greneng

10. Titil

11. Ganjah

12. Peksi

13. Wideng

14. Ankaan

15. Tikel Alis

16. Mata

17. Djenggot

18. Telale Gadjah

19. Djalu Memet

20. Lambe Gadjah

21. Srawejan

22. Gandik

23. Pejetan

24. Tingil

25. Ri Pandan

Sometimes the Telale Gadjah (18) is called Sekar Kacang or Kembang Kacang which are less correct terms.

The Peksi is fitted through the Ganjah and then merged with the blade as smoothly as possible such that sometimes it is not noticed as a separate part from the blade. Many authorities use the Ganjah as the definitive structure that characterises a blade as a keris.

Nevertheless there are kerises where the blade is forged in one piece without a separate Ganjah. The Ganjah is chiseled in. Such kerises are called Keris Ganjah Iras.
The Keris Majapahit has no separate Ganjah as well.

Dapur

Apart from all distinctive features at the bottom of the blade, the keris comes in all shapes and sizes imaginable. The Indonesian term for the shape of the blade is Dapur. At last count, there are about 145 listed and identified Dapur. This doesn't include the variations in-between.

While the conventional view of a keris is that it is wavy, straight blades abound.

The straight blade is called Dapur Lurus or Dapur Bener and the curved, wavy blade is called Dapur Luk.
The waves, "Luk", are always odd in number when counted in the traditional way. The first Luk starts above the Pejetan, and the second on the alternate side of the blade and so on untill the tip.
Some of the common Dapur are Carubuk (7 luk) and Sengkelat (13 luk).

Some blades, have a lion or Singa, snake or Naga, or a praying man or Pendita instead of having a Telale Gadjah. The names of the Dapur of these blades follow the motive they have, for instance: Singa Barong or Naga Sasra.

Naga

Sasra

Pendita

Some common types of Dapur are:

-Dapur Brojol, a straight keris with only the Pejetan.

-Dapur Tilam Upih, a straight keris with Pejetan and Tikel Alis.

-Dapur Jalak Ngore, a straight keris with Pejetan, Tikel Alis and Greneng.

Pamor

The most striking feature of the keris is the damascene or "Pamor".
The word Pamor comes from the Javanese word Wor or Awor and it means mixture. This word describes in a way the manufacturing procedure of the keris. The different layers of iron are welded together forming a pattern. For this reason a better word for damascene would be pattern-welded damast.
True Damascus or Damast arises through a chemical proces in the melting-pots of the steelworkers in India and has no relation to the used technique of forging and welding. The steel they produced is called Wootz and was used to create the Damascus swords of the Middle East. It contains impurities such as vanadium and molybdenum which cause the damast in these swords.
Pamor is formed because the keris is not made from a homogenous piece of metal. A keris with Pamor consists of alternating layers of normal iron and iron containing nickel. If possible iron from meteorites is used. This meteorite-iron contains about 5% nickel. In the principalities on East Java, keris smiths, or Empu's (a term of respect), used iron from meteorites which were fallen near Prambanan in the middle of the 18th century. These meteorites were kept in the Surakarta Kraton and were used to produce the "Pamor Prambanan".

During the forging process three bars of iron with two bars of nickel-iron in between, are welded together. When the bar has its desired length it is cutted in two or three pieces which again are welded together. This goes on until the iron bar has its desired amount of layers, depending upon the type of Pamor. For some kinds of Pamor 250 and more. From this bar a piece is taken to create the Ganjah. In the last stage a steel bar is forged between two bars, containing the nickel layers, to give the keris its cutting edge. The Empu is able to influence the pattern of the Pamor by twisting, turning and bending the iron bar and eventually drill holes in it. Every step is followed by welding. From the final bar the shape of the keris, straight or curved, with the Peksi is forged and the decorations such as the Greneng and the Telale Gadjah are made. Also the Pejetan and the Sogokan are chiseled into the Wilah. When the shape of the keris is ready it is finished of by filing and grinding the suface to give the keris a smooth shape, and after that the blade is hardened. Now the Ganjah with its decorations is created and fixed to the blade.
The Pamor is brought out and made visible through a process of washing and etching the finished blade in a solution of arsenic and lime juice. Base iron turns black in such a solution while the nickel remains unaffected coming out as silvery lines against a black background.

The Empu's have mastered the art of laying out nickel and directing the forging, to give a desired Pamor, so well that it is possible to order a blade with a name or a Koranic text in Pamor.

Pamor Types

There are basically two classes of Pamor: flat "Mlumah" and vertical "Miring". Pamor Mlumah lies parallel to the flat of the blade such that if you run a finger on a blade with Pamor Mlumah, it is relatively smooth to the touch. Common Pamor Mlumah are Kulit Semangka (Watermelon Skin), and Beras Wutah (Scattered Rice Grains).

Manggah

Uler Lurut.

Bendo Sedago

Pamor Miring, on the other hand, raises up perpendicularly or diagonally from the flat of the blade. If you run a finger down a blade with Pamor Miring, you will feel like your finger is going over many tiny ridges.

Most of the elaborate Pamor are of the Miring class like Blarak Ngirid (Coconut Fonds) and Ron Genduru or Bulu Ayam (Rooster's feathers).

Aside from this, there is also a concept of "willed" and "fated" Pamor. "Willed" or Pamor Rekan refers to Pamor designs that are pre-planned. "Fated" or Pamor Tiban is Pamor left to chance, or to the grace of God, in the process of forging. Most Pamor Tiban are of the Mlumah class. They have very strong spiritual connotations. Some come in shapes of animals, a star or a circle in an unexpected place. The most powerful is the resemblance of a man.