A beautiful woman, having four hands, standing on a big lotus, and is accompanied by a swan and a peacock are a little bit appearances of Saraswati. Who is she? Balinese sometimes call her The Goddess of Knowledge and she is given homage every 210 days by special ceremony and various offerings. She is the eternal consort of Brahma (the creator)

The Goddes Saraswati has four hands. Each hand holds respectively Genitri, Keropak, Wina, and Lotus. Genitri is something like rosary beads. This is a symbol of neverending knowledge. Knowledge will never be destroyed all around the age, knowledge is everlasting. That is why it is symbolized by Genitri; when we count it we will never find the end of it. It is similar with knowledge that has no end.

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Galungan, a Christmas for Balinese will soon come. And if you happen to visit Bali on Galungan day you will be hailed by thousands of Penjor along the roadside all over of Bali.

What is Penjor? Penjor is made from a long bamboo pole about eight meter high with curved end, and decorated with palm leaves, rice paddies, corn on the cob, coconut, cakes, a piece of white or yellow cloth, etc. It is the symbol of Mount Agung and also as gratitude for the agricultural produce. The arched top of the bamboo pole represents Mount Agung, the body of the pole is a river that flows from the mountains to the sea, and along its route are the products of the harvest, tied to the pole.

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