The Blade

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 Blade

The details found at the bottom of the blade distinguishes the keris from other types of daggers.
Landep Ngadjeng Landep Wingking Ada Gusen Sogokan Wingking Sogokan Ngadjeng Sorsoran Adeg-Adeg Greneng Titil Ganjah Peksi	Wideng Ankaan Tikel Alis Mata Djenggot Telale Gadjah Djalu Memet Lambe Gadjah Srawejan Gandik Pejetan Tingil Ri-Pandan
Sometimes the Telale Gadjah (18) is called Sekar Kacang or Kembang Kacang which are less correct terms.

The bottom of the blade is called Sorsoran. The entirety of the details of the keris is called Prabot. Together with the Dapur - the shape of the blade - the Prabot defines the type of the keris.

The keris blade suddenly flares asymmetrically out as it reaches the base at the Peksi. There the blade meets the Ganjah, a separate piece of metal which is secured firmly to the blade by a special joint. The Ganjah is taken from the same billet as the blade in the early stages of forging. The Ganjah is relatively blunt at one end and sharp on the other. In Indonesia the shape of the Ganjah is called Cecak - because it looks like this little lizard, which is very common in the Indonesian archipelago, when the Ganjah is viewed from the Peksi. The head of the Cecak is situated at the blunt side of the Ganjah and is called Endas Cecak, the neck of the lizard is called Gulu Melet and the tail Buntut.
Other key features at the base of the blade are the Pejetan, the depression on the blade where the blade is held between the thumb and the fore-finger, the Telale Gadjah, a feature above the Pejetan to give protection to the thumb and the forefinger, the Sogogan, decorative groves at the base of the blade, and saw-like serrations along both edges called either the Djenggot, if above the Telale Gadjah, or Greneng if on or above the Buntut. The Djenggot and Greneng are actually guards, designed to catch an opponent's blade and prevent it from reaching the hand. However, there are no fixed rules on whether these features must be present or what forms they take.

Ganja fitting

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.

Keris Ganjah Iras

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.

Some common types of Dapur are:

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).

Other varieties are Bendo Sedago, Manggah(?)

and Uler Lurut.

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.

Other types of Pamor are Udan Mas (Rain of Gold), which is supposed to be good for the businessman, and Buntel Mayit, the Death Shroud, which can do you harm or worse...

Some different pamor motifs on Indonesian Kris blades. From left to right:

Scattered rice grains, Hair standing on end, Spread palm leaves, Line of sitting locusts