A cooperative water management system

What role do water temples play?

They coordinate water sharing and rituals

Why do farmers coordinate planting?

To share water and control pests

Subak Quiz: Bali's Water Temples and Jatiluwih Rice Terraces

This subak quiz follows the channels that water Bali's rice terraces. Play 10 interactive questions on its roots around the 800s, farmers' cooperatives sharing water, the Tri Hita Karana philosophy, water temples and priests, Lake Batur's temple, the Jatiluwih terraces, Tegallalang near Ubud, planting schedules and the 2012 UNESCO listing.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Island
Which Indonesian island uses the subak system?
What
What is subak?
Age
How old is the subak system?
Philosophy
Which philosophy guides subak?
Temples
What role do water temples play?
Lake
Which crater lake's temple is linked to irrigation?
Terraces
Which UNESCO-listed terraces lie in Tabanan?
Ubud
Which famous terraces near Ubud draw many visitors?
Schedule
Why do farmers coordinate planting?
UNESCO
When was the subak landscape listed by UNESCO?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Which Indonesian island uses the subak system?
Answer: Bali
It shapes the island's terraces.
Q2: What is subak?
Answer: A cooperative water management system
Farmers share water fairly.
Q3: How old is the subak system?
Answer: Over a thousand years
It dates back to the 800s.
Q4: Which philosophy guides subak?
Answer: Tri Hita Karana
Harmony between people, nature and gods.
Q5: What role do water temples play?
Answer: They coordinate water sharing and rituals
Priests help plan schedules.
Q6: Which crater lake's temple is linked to irrigation?
Answer: Lake Batur
Water flows from the highlands.
Q7: Which UNESCO-listed terraces lie in Tabanan?
Answer: Jatiluwih
They cover hundreds of hectares.
Q8: Which famous terraces near Ubud draw many visitors?
Answer: Tegallalang
They are photographed often.
Q9: Why do farmers coordinate planting?
Answer: To share water and control pests
Fallow periods break pest cycles.
Q10: When was the subak landscape listed by UNESCO?
Answer: 2012
It is a cultural landscape.

Water Temples and Bali's Shared Rice Terraces

Subak is the cooperative system Balinese farmers have used for over a thousand years to share water among rice terraces. Its roots go back to around the 800s. Each subak is a group of farmers who manage canals, tunnels and weirs together so water flows fairly from field to field.

Subak follows Tri Hita Karana, a philosophy of harmony between people, nature and the gods. Water temples sit at springs, lakes and canal junctions, and priests help coordinate planting schedules. The temple at Lake Batur is linked to water flowing down from the highlands. Coordinated planting and fallow periods also help control pests.

In 2012 UNESCO listed the Cultural Landscape of Bali Province, including the subak system and the Jatiluwih rice terraces in Tabanan, which stretch over hundreds of hectares. Tegallalang near Ubud is another famous terrace landscape popular with visitors.

What This Quiz Teaches

Culture fans will enjoy these questions.

What subak is
How old it is
Which philosophy guides it
What water temples do
Where terraces can be seen

Did You Know?

Rice goddess Dewi Sri is honored in the fields.
Ducks are sometimes herded through paddies.
Tourism and development threaten some terraces.
Walking trails cross the Jatiluwih terraces.
Farmers make offerings at small field shrines.