The kris or keris is a distinctive, asymmetrical dagger, used both as a weapon and as a spiritual object. It is considered to possess magical powers and dates back to the tenth century. The earliest known kris is believed to have spread throughout South-East Asia from Java.
During the making of kris blades, the bladesmith layers different iron ores with meteorite nickel, working alongside the empu, who is known for his skills in writing literature, history, and occult sciences.
In the past, a rich spirituality and mythology developed around the Kris, and it was worn and used by both men and women. Kris was used for display, as talismans with magical powers, as weapons, as sanctified heirlooms, as auxiliary equipment for court soldiers, as accessories for ceremonial dress, as a symbol of heroism, and indicator of social status.
Although many kris have straight blades, the kris is more famous for its distinctive wavy blade. The blade is known as the bilah or wilah, the hilt as the hulu, and the sheath as the warangka. Each of these parts is considered an individual work of art, often carved from precious or rare woods, metal, or ivory depending on the quality and historical value of a kris.
The aesthetic value of a kris includes its dhapur (form and design of the blade), pamor (patterns of metal alloy decoration on the blade), and tangguh (the age and origin of a kris). Some of the best-known representations of the Kris can be found on the bas-relief panels of Borobudur (825) and Prambanan temple (850), which originated from the Hindu-Buddhist Medang Mataram Kingdom of Central Java.
While kris craftsmanship has declined in this region, the tradition has been preserved in the courts. Until the 1990s, however, this tradition was revived, and the demand for exquisite kris has increased again. Although in the last three decades, kris has lost some of its prominent social and spiritual meaning in society, some places, like Madura, Surakarta, Yogyakarta, Makassar, and Palembang there are still active and honored smiths who produce high-quality kris according to traditional methods, but their numbers are drastically decreasing, and it is more difficult for them to find successors to pass on their skills.
In some villages, such as Banyu Sumurup village in Imogiri subdistrict, Bantul, and Yogyakarta, the traditional kris-making industry still survives. These amulets are handmade by kris enthusiasts who seek their spiritual power, or by tourists who want souvenirs for their traveling.