The Beauty of Living Root Bridges

By | January 15, 2019

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SHILLONG, MEGHALAYA, INDIA, 5/15/06. Source: Subhendu Sarkar/LightRocket via Getty Images.

A view of the living root bridge at Mawlynnong on the outskirts of Shillong. Mawlynnong is a village in the East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya. It is often called Asia's cleanest village. Meghalaya is a state in north-east India which means 'the abode of clouds' in Sanskrit. Previously a part of Assam, Meghalaya became a state in 1972 when the districts of Khasi, Garo and Jaintia hills came under it. English is the official language of Meghalaya and Christianity its main religion. Meghalaya follows a matrilineal system where the youngest daughter inherits all wealth and she also takes care of her parents. The state is also the wettest region of India, recording an average of 12,000 mm of rains annually. 

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Living root bridges Nongriat village, Meghalaya. Source: wikipedia.com

The art of creating living root bridges is done by the people in southern India in Meghalaya. It is a form of shaping trees called Ficus elastica or fig trees by hand to form bridges strong enough for people to actually walk across. Khasi and Jaintia, people who reside in the mountain area of Shillong Plateau, are the people who make these bridges. Other areas where these bridges can be found include Indonesia at Jembatan Akar on the island of Sumatra and also in the Banten area of Java.

No one knows exactly how far back in history these bridges started. It has been recorded though as far back as 1844 because, in the 1844 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Benhal, Lieutenant Henry Yule wrote about how amazing they were. The beauty of them located in the midst of rainforests are simply breathtaking.