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Rice Growing
Bali is one of the few places on Earth made visually stunning by its main economic activity. The cascading terraces of rice fields are the most striking features of the landscape, claiming even slopes that look too formidable to be of any possible use. The island is one big sculpture. Every terrace is manicured and polished, every field and niche carved and tailored by hand. Some plots are so small. They hold just four rice plants each. The Balinese have lovingly carved their own world in a series of geometric steps that climb up the volcanic slopes to the mountains where the gods live. Fringed by coconut palms, deep ravines force their way through this checkerboard pattern to the sea. On Bali rice - growing is both an art and a science. Because of the island's superb drainage pattern, the high volcanic ash content, and Bali's equable climate, conditions for traditional 'sawah' (rice field) cultivation here are perhaps the most ideal in all Indonesia. However, rainfall in the lowlands is insufficient to grow wet rice, and Bali's steep and narrow ravines are not easy to dam. To remedy these problems, the Balinese have devised ingenious cathements to collect rainwater and channel water. Thousands of tiny waterfalls spill a precious allotment of water onto tiers of paddy from high mountain lakes to coastal rice fields. This complex irrigation system, continuously maintained, groomed, and plowed, has been developed over many centuries. With a remarkable system of hand-built aqueducts, small dams, and underground canals, the island's terracing and irrigation practices are even more elaborate, sophisticated, and seasonably predictable than those on Java. Water is sometimes carried by tunnels through solid rock hillsides; water needs high on the ridges often require tunnels two or three kilometers long, some dug eight or nine centuries ago. About 70% of the population are rice farmers and it's due to their expertise that the Balinese have been able to support such a refined civilization and theatrical, picturesque religion. The discipline required to share water and resources has also created a remarkably cooperative way of life. Rugged individualists cannot exist in communities where every farmer is utterly dependent on the cooperation of neighbors. Made from palm leaf, the abstract female head with a large fanlike headdress is dedicated to the rice goddess Dewi Sri and dates from pre-Hindu rice cults. The figure is a symbol of wealth, fertility, and good fortune. It can also be found on cakes, baked clay, or made from old Chinese coins. The art of cutting and folding young coconut or palm leaves in intricate designs, both for impressive large-scale ornamentation and small-scale temple flower offerings like the above, is thought to be a pure Balinese art form, with no trace of borrowing from outside cultures. |
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