Indonesia`s Traditional Dagger, From The 10th Century Up Today

Jakarta - In 2005, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) proclaimed 43 new Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Among the masterpieces of duduk music from Armenia, kabuki theatre from Japan and the Patum de Berga festival in Spain was a weapon: the Indonesian Kris.

Haryono Guritno, who worked as Sukarno‘s adjutant in the first president‘s last years, was instrumental in getting UNESCO to recognize the Kris dagger.

He shared the president‘s passion for Kris, and it was Sukarno who told him to study and write about the ancient dagger.

Haryono still remembers Sukarno‘s words to him in Dutch: “It is a shame, my child, you came too late. I cannot do anything now. Continue your research about Kris and write according to your intentions and your hopes!”

After Sukarno passed away, Haryono spent 40 years studying Kris before he compiled his 300-page application to UNESCO.

Although he has written extensively about the dagger, he says: “After reading many books and conducting personal research, I must confess that I can‘t yet define the kris.”

The Kris has captivated writers and smiths all over the world.

Alan Maisey, from Australia, has been enamoured with the ancient dagger for decades, writing about it extensively. He has even made Kris himself.

He says: “I think we all probably err in our thoughts about the Kris by trying to relate to it as a physical object. It is very probably more accurately thought of as the physical representation of a rather obscure idea.”

There is even a Kris maker in northwest England. Graham Hanley, 38, is a smith living in Lancashire. He has never set foot in Indonesia but taught himself to make Kris through studying literature and following Kris Internet forums.

He said that he makes Kris because, “There is something magical and very satisfying about taking old, rusty iron (sometimes a thousand years old) and meteoric iron from all over the planet and turning it into a sleek, graceful Kris blade using techniques which haven‘t changed for centuries.” Godeliva D. Sari

Source: TheJakartaGlobe.com (March 18^th, 2009)
Photo: IndonesianKris.com

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