Taming Sari

Taming Sari [MALAY:TAH-ming SAH-ree] ("flower shield" or "beautiful shield") is a famous kris in Malay folklore. It is believed to have been wielded by the legendary Malaccan warrior Hang Tuah, and is fabled to grant physical invulnerability to its wielder.

The Kris Taming Sari was said to have been made of 21 different types of metal. The whole of the sampir (upper wooden part) and batang (lower part of the wooden sheath), was covered in gold leaf. It is classified as a keris gabus (sharp) or keris terapang (having a cross-piece or sheath covered with gold).

The Sejarah Melayu tells that the kris was made by a Javanese blacksmith (pandai besi) and wielded by the champion of Majapahit, a pendekar named Taming Sari from which the weapon derives its name. It was said to be so skillfully crafted that anyone wielding it was unbeatable. In some versions of the legend, the weapon was imbued with an enchantment that would make its user physically invulnerable. The Melakan admiral Hang Tuah eventually won it in a duel to the death after which the king of Majapahit presented the weapon to the victor. Later when Hang Tuah failed to bring back the princess from Gunung Ledang, he gave the kris to Tun Mamat to be returned to Sultan Mahmud Shah. Hang Tuah then disappeared and was never seen or heard of again. Another version of the legend has it that Hang Tuah threw the dagger into the river, saying that he would return when the kris re-appeared.

The Kris Taming Sari is said to have mystical powers such as hovering in the air during times of crisis or leaping out of its sheathe to fight on behalf of its wielder.

When Melaka was captured by Portuguese conquistadores in the 16th century, Sultan Mahmud retreated to Kampar in Sumatra, bringing all of Melaka's state regalia. He passed the weapon along with the other royal regalia to his son Muzaffar Shah who later became the ruler of Perak. It is still kept in the palace of his descendant Sultan Azlan Shah today as part of the state's regalia.

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Wikipedia