Penjor of Bali: Celebrating the Gifts of the Gods is an homage to one of Bali's most poetic and enduring symbols - the penjor, those tall, arching bamboo poles that grace the island's roads and temple entrances during ceremonies and festivals. In this richly illustrated and deeply observed book, Susan Ruddy brings to life the beauty, symbolism, and living tradition of the penjor, revealing how this delicate art form embodies the Balinese philosophy of gratitude and balance.
Ruddy first encountered Bali almost twenty years before writing the book. Like many travelers, she was immediately enchanted by the island's color, rhythm, and ritual. But it was the penjor - simultaneously elegant, humble, and profound - that held her imagination. Rising high above the roads, bending gently toward the earth, each penjor expresses the Balinese ideal of harmony between the seen and the unseen worlds. Created anew for each festival, these bamboo structures are fleeting works of devotion, both offering and ornament, linking heaven and earth in a continuous dialogue of gratitude.
When Ruddy sought to learn more, she discovered that little had been written about these graceful emblems. There was no comprehensive account in English, and even Indonesian and Dutch archives offered only brief mentions or captioned photographs. With curiosity and persistence, she began a years-long exploration - speaking with villagers, priests, artists, and friends across the island. With their help, she recorded oral histories, ritual practices, and the symbolism behind each element of the penjor's design. Her notebooks filled with details: how the bamboo is chosen and cut, how palm fronds are folded and woven, what offerings hang from the curved tip, and how every gesture of construction honors the gods and ancestors who bless the land.
The result of this inquiry is both documentary and meditation. Penjor of Bali gathers more than a thousand images - many taken by Ruddy herself and others shared by Balinese collaborators - alongside her clear, reflective prose. The photographs capture the astonishing variety of forms: the intricate artistry of village creations, the grandeur of temple displays, and the spontaneous beauty of roadside offerings. Through these images, the reader witnesses how a single, simple form becomes infinitely diverse in the hands of those who craft it.
Yet the book is not only a study of art and ritual. It is also a meditation on gratitude, impermanence, and the human impulse to create meaning through beauty. Ruddy writes with quiet reverence, allowing the Balinese voices she gathered to speak through her narrative. Her background as a journalist and leader in conservation, higher education, and healthcare lends the work both clarity and compassion. The writing moves gracefully between observation and reflection, between the local and the universal - reminding us that gratitude, when expressed through beauty, becomes a form of wisdom.
Penjor of Bali: Celebrating the Gifts of the Gods is at once a visual feast, a cultural record, and a love letter to an island where art and devotion are inseparable. It invites readers not only to look, but to see - to sense the conversation between earth and spirit that the penjor so gracefully embodies.
The book celebrates Indonesia's living heritage - where beauty, ritual, and gratitude are inseparable. For travelers, artists, and anyone drawn to sacred art or world cultures, this volume offers an intimate portrait of Bali's most graceful expression of thanks to the gods.
