The Badung Market, known locally as Pasar Badung, serves as a crucial hub for economic activity not only in the city of Denpasar but also throughout Bali. It got its name from the nearby Tukad Badung or the Badung River. Initially, the market was located south of the Denpasar Palace, also known as the Jaya Sabha building. However, during the colonial period around 1907, the market was relocated westward, near the Badung River, to its current position where both the Badung and Kumbasari Markets now stand.
Before this relocation, the site housed a specialized pottery market called Peken Payuk. As pottery kitchenware became less popular over time, Peken Payuk transitioned into a modern market, prompting a name change to the Kumbasari Market. Both the Badung and Kumbasari Markets are strongly linked with the image of ‘juru suun’, mostly female workers carrying groceries overhead. A significant overhaul of the Badung Market was conducted in 1977, which included the transformation of its architecture into a multi-tiered structure, a change officially inaugurated on April 24, 1984. However, on February 29, 2016, a devastating fire hit the Badung Market. A year later, the market underwent a renovation, emerging as a more modern public market.
President Joko Widodo inaugurated the revamped Badung Market with its distinctive new architecture on March 24, 2019. Today's Badung Market comprises six levels: two basement floors and four above-ground floors dedicated to stalls and kiosks. In total, it houses 1,450 stall units and 290 kiosk units. President Jokowi praised the Badung Market as the public market with the most commendable architecture in all of Indonesia.
