Balinese “Water Temples” and the Management of Irrigation

TLDR

Bali has been debated as a case for irrigation centralizing state power, yet earlier studies misidentified the system; in Balinese rice terraces, irrigation supports a complex pulsed ecosystem managed by water‑temple networks that operate across regional hierarchies. Evidence shows irrigation is organized by enduring water‑temple networks independent of the state, contrasting with the instability of traditional Balinese states and suggesting the state itself may be illusory.

Abstract

Bali has figured prominently in debates on the question of whether irrigation centralizes state power. New evidence shows that irrigation is actually organized by networks of “water temples” that constitute an institutional system separate from the state. Earlier attempts to identify a discrete system of irrigation management misconceived the problem. For most crops, irrigation simply provides water for the plant's roots. But in a Balinese rice terrace, water is used to construct a complex, pulsed artificial ecosystem. Water temples manipulate the states of the system, at ascending levels in regional hierarchies. The permanence of water temple networks contrasts sharply with the instability of the traditional Balinese states. Since the water temples are real, perhaps it is the Balinese “state” that is chimerical.