Ancient ritual shows the kris’ lasting place in the nation’s psyche

via Jakarta Post, 07 December 2022:

To keep the iconic Indonesian dagger relevant today, kris experts carried out the age-old puja rahayu ningrat ceremony at Jakarta’s Bentara Budaya cultural center.

Prince Abiyoso Hadiningrat held the hilt of his kris firmly as he fed its black blade into the kiln. He then pressed the edge of the heated blade to his tongue before cooling the dagger in a basin of air kembang, or water infused with the petals of various flowers. Then, he repeated the steps.

To the untrained eye, Abiyoso’s actions may have seemed like a traditional Indonesian stunt, just as performers in a trance appear to eat glass or stab themselves with their krises in the kuda lumping or barong dances in Java and Bali, respectively. But the venerated elder maintained that there was a method to the apparent madness.

Source: Ancient ritual shows the kris’ lasting place in the nation’s psyche