Dewi Sri is the goddess of rice and fertility, one of the most loved deities in Bali and across Java. Rice is far more than food in Balinese culture, and Dewi Sri is honored as a mother figure who brings abundance and sustains life. Farmers pray to her through the growing season, from planting to harvest, and offerings to her appear in fields, granaries and kitchens.
Her best-known symbol is the cili, a stylized female figure with a broad crown and an hourglass shape, often made from palm leaf. Cili appear woven into offerings, shaped from rice dough and painted or carved as decoration. She is honored in small shrines among the terraces, in the subak water temples of the farming cooperatives and at the traditional rice barn. The idea reflects Tri Hita Karana, harmony between people and land.
Walking through rice terraces, look for small bamboo or stone shrines standing at the edges of the fields, often with fresh offerings. At planting and harvest, farmers bring special offerings to these shrines and to the subak temples. In markets and craft shops you will find the cili design on textiles, offerings and carvings, a quiet reminder of how sacred rice remains.
Highlights
- Palm-leaf cili figures
- Shrines among the rice terraces
- Subak water temples
- Harvest offerings
Good to know
- On a rice-field walk, look for the small shrines at field corners and avoid touching the offerings.
- Palm-leaf cili ornaments make meaningful souvenirs from local markets.
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