Carefully Woven Live Root Bridges of Meghalaya

They are live, gain strength each day, marvel of nature, bless the tribals, live in perfect harmony and pride of Meghalaya.

Yes, I am talking about the centuries old live root bridges which is a tribal art of carefully manipulating the roots of a tree into a live bridge, basically for the commuting purpose to cross rivers and streams. 

Khasi people have been trained to grow these bridges across the raised banks of streams to form root bridges made from the roots of the Ficus elastica tree, which produces a series of secondary roots that are perched atop huge boulders along the streams or the riverbanks.

These root bridges are located in and around Cherrapunji/Sohra, Meghalaya, the wettest state of India. Some of these root bridges are more than 150 years old and strong enough to carry 50 people or more at a time. Take a look at one of the most beautiful and not so easily accessible root bridge…….

The life span of these bridges are around 500 to 600 years after they are well formed ( take ten to fifteen years to be fully functional) and are strong enough to take load of the daily functioning and commuting of locals out here. Some of which are over a hundred feet long, more long lasting than metal or wooden ones which gets destroyed due to massive rains this area receives.