Cultural Landscape of Bali Province: the Subak System as a Manifestation of the Tri Hita Karana Philosophy
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How it came to be
Bali's rice terraces are watered through subak, a cooperative system in which farmers jointly manage canals and weirs, with water temples at its centre. Subak is dated to the 9th century, and a text from around the 11th century already names it kasuwakara.
The supreme water temple is Pura Ulun Danu Batur on Lake Batur, regarded as the source of every spring and river on the island. Pura Taman Ayun, the royal temple of the kingdom of Mengwi, is surrounded by a wide moat. The system reflects Tri Hita Karana, a philosophy that brings together the realms of the spirit, the human world and nature.
When the Green Revolution programme reached Bali in 1971, water scheduling fell into disorder and rice pests multiplied. At the end of the 1980s the government changed course and returned decisions on farming to the subak. On 6 July 2012 five rice-terrace landscapes and their temples, covering 19,500 hectares, were inscribed as a World Heritage site.
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