The Subak Museum is located in the countryside of Sanggulan, the sub-district of Kediri and the regency of Tabanan just 20 km west of Denpasar. This museum is open to the public and is one of Tabanan regency’s tourist destinations west of Bali. It is strategically located in Tabanan city and in this regency it is close to other tourist destinations.
Tabanan regency is one of Bali’s largest rice field regeneration, so this regency is frequently called by Bali Island’s Rice Barn. Sanggulan countryside was chosen as a place for the Subak Museum because considering that in this regency Subak Rijasa reached the National Champion in Intensification Program in 1979, which lifted the name of Bali at the national level.
Besides that, if compared to other regencies, Tabanan regency owns more Subak Organization. Subak Museum’s development is inspired by the intention of all lovers of Balinese culture. This museum is expected to preserve Subak as a local cultural asset worthy of developing and improving the production of agricultural rice fields, particularly rice and traditional irrigation systems.
This system is very famous in foreign countries because it owns the similar irrigation system with the chasm like Fai in Thailand and Zangera in Philippine and its specification doesn’t like Subak that exists in Bali.
Subak is an organization of wet farmers to obtain water irrigation from the sources. Subak Museum consists of a building that is closed and opened.
The closed building consists of the exhibition stand where we can meet the demonstration of the object related to farm work, visual audio building narrating the activities of Subak in its bearing with the management of water irrigation, library and office.
Open building is the mini – shaped visualization of Subak demonstration consisting of a pool as a place of irrigation relocation, a tunnel that flows water from the pool to the relocation of water.
In the exhibition building, the objects and farm equipment are displayed as the equipment and the object is arranged in such a way from the equipment for the opening of the farm, making irrigation items, farm processing, crop conservation, harvesting, rice and kitchen equipment.
The function of the Subak Museum in the Sanggulan countryside is no different to other museums in Bali:
1. As a center of the erudite investigation and documentation.
2. As a place to channel science.
3. Cultural acquaintanceship place.
4. Medium place for human introspection.
5. Place to mirror the history of mankind.
6. Place to enjoy the object of art and culture in general.
This time can be shaped as a tourist destination, particularly for the arrival tourists from large countries, like America, Europe and Japan, etc. This museum is unique in Bali.