The penjor is a tall bamboo pole (7 meters high) whose drooping top is symbolic of the holy mountain (Mt. Agung) and all the wonderful daily things the mountain supplies to the Balinese people. This symbol has been around for a thousand years, in various forms. Each family erects this symbol in front of their house.

We lived in a village this last Galungan, with a Balinese family, and experienced the day to day activities of constructing the penjor. This is a chore for the male members of the family ( our Balinese family had 6 males ) and took place over three days preceeding Galungan. Galungan is a kind of all Saints day, when gifts were given freely ( new clothes for the children, etc.). It also starts the new year ( Balinese calendar of 210 days in each year ). Last time I was here Galungan was in Sept, but this year it was in July.

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Building a Balinese traditional house or structure is not a simple matter, not just simply taking natural materials – wood, grass, and stone – and shaping them to fit human needs. Instead, it seeks balance and propriety, in a Hindu sense, between the occupant and the structure, and structure and cosmos.

Man’s body is considered in Hindu thought to be a microcosm or miniature of the universe at large. It is only natural, therefore, that the Balinese should regard their house compounds as extension of same concept of balance between body and environment.

There is a set of traditional rules known as Asta Kosala Kosali that have to be observed in building a Balinese traditional structure. A Balinese traditional structure that is built in accordance with The Asta Kosala Kosali will express a harmony between human body and environment.

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