Krises no longer only mystical symbols, JAKARTA POST.

Original Source: Emerging Markets Datafile

URL: http://www.thejakartapost.com/

The wavy double-bladed kris, or keris as it is known locally was, in the past, a weapon mostly used in war.

That accounts for why it was made to possess lethal power, and was often smeared with deadly poison to ensure a certain death for an enemy stabbed with one.

A kris, too, was believed to have supernatural power and only certain people were considered to have the ability to look after it.

So sacred was a kris, that a kris maker, known as an empu, was required to perform a special ritual before making one.

But that is all history. At present, it may be difficult to find a kris that has been made in accordance with the standard requirements applied by the empu of the Pajajaran to the Demak kingdom dynasties (from the 12th century to the 15th century).

At that time, a kris had to have an odd number of …