Dating back many centuries, when the fast flowing streams of Meghalaya have cut an entire village from the mainland, the Khasi tribes who had an intimate relationship with nature has figured an indigenous way to solve the issue.

As the monsoon sets in, the same rain which turns the whole valley into a visually pleasing emerald green, also causes flood in many regions of Meghalaya which leads to isolation of villages from mainland.  Such is the case in Meghalaya, where instead of building concrete bridges to cross over, long ago the tribes have found a traditional way to live in harmony with nature.

Root bridges are built using the roots of Indian rubber tree, Ficus Elastica.

Indian rubber tree is chosen due to the property of its roots clasping to the surrounding rocks nearby. These roots also have the feature of roots securing all the way down to the river bed.

The process of building the root bridges starts with planting a sapling of rubber tree(if it is not already there) alongside streams. As the shoots of the tree start to appear, it is then channelized to the other side of the stream with the help of hollow betel nut tree trunks. Once the root reach the other side, they are infused into the soil.

The entire process takes ten to fifteen years to establish a functional root bridge. In contrast to the man-made bridges, these living root bridges get stronger with time. Many of the living root bridges can hold over 50 people at a time.

Where you can find living root bridges in Meghalaya?

Nongriat
A tiny Khasi tribe hamlet tucked away in the mountian valleys down 3000 steps beneath dense forest cover, is home to various root bridges of Meghalaya.

You may have to trek down steep steps to the valley and then up a hill to finally reach Nongriat. Trek to Nongriat village starts at Tyrna where there are local guides available to hire if you want.

1) Ritymmen root bridge
While trekking your way to double decker root bridge, upon reaching Nongthymmai, you would come across a direction board onto your left with words ”Longest Root Bridge” hung on the bark of a tree. 

Ritymmen root bridge is 120 years old and the interesting part about this bridge is that it is the only bridge to be constructed using two trees. There are two root bridges in this place.

With leaves so big and nature so pristine, doesn’t this place look like Amazon forest or a scene from ‘Avatar’ movie?

2) Jingkieng Double decker root bridge
This 250 year old root bridge requires no introduction, as it is one of the famous root bridges of Meghalaya. Doesn’t this place look straight out of a fairy tale?

The second level of the bridge is constructed when the first level became inoperable due to excessive rains. Do you know that the people of Nongriat are planning to add third level to the bridge which would be functional in another ten years?

3) Mawsaw root bridge
Mawsaw root bridge, on the way to rainbow falls is two hours away from double decker root bridge. After crossing a suspension bridge, you would come across this bridge. This is actually a semi natural bridge as it has some steel cables interwined with them for support.

1) Umkar root bridge
This bridge in Siej village is basically an under construction bridge. In 2011, a massive flood has washed away a part of the 40 year old Umkar living root bridge. Now the villagers are rebuilding it and it would take another ten to fifteen years to go functional.

As it is still growing, you cannot walk till the end. The root bridge is accessible after a short 10 minute hike from Siej village.

Mawlynnong
A magical paradise 80 km from Cherrapunjee, is home to the tribes of Khasi hills. From cleanliness to greenery, the villagers take extreme effort in maintaining. While adults go sweeping the streets of their village, children go about picking plastics, wrappers with pride.


1) Riwai root bridges
The cleanest village of Asia, Mawlynnong has also got a root bridge. We didn’t have time to go to this root bridge. But we heard that these root bridges are easy on legs and is a perfect alternative to root bridges of Nongriat if you don’t want to go on a tedious trek.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt5_vISF0tM/?hl=en

This man-made wonder is unquestionably worth experiencing if you are planning a visit to Meghalaya.

How can you miss out on a 250 year old Bio-Engineering marvel that the indigenous Khasi tribes had invented and used for centuries to cross the swollen river?

While the technology is advancing in other direction than intended, I was so happy with the Eco-technology our ancestors have used in their everyday life.

This trek indeed made me rethink the idea of civilisation. Shouldn’t the way of living coherent with nature be called Civilisation?

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