Cherrapunji Living Root Bridges
The Bridges that are not Built but Grown – Unique to the World
A story of a young lad Lunshai and the Beautiful Olari of the Khasi tribe.. Fell in love.. But the flowing stream was an obstacle every evening. As both their villages were located on either side of the stream… which used to make them very sad… they sang songs and expressed their love. One day both of them thought. Of how could they cross the stream and meet each other … and noticed the huge healthy trees which had aerial roots which they wound around bamboo and directed towards the opposite bank. They sang to the roots to grow faster … and by more than a decade they reached the other side, and formed a bridge…That was the day when the sky was clear and Lunshai and Olari met. The villagers danced and had a big feast...
The natural Wonder which quite goes unnoticed the Living root bridges of southern Meghalaya are there in existence in a huge variety of shapes and sizes. They have been known to grow as long as 170 feet, and high as 80 feet above the streams that they cross. Most living root bridges only have a single span, yet several have more than one, arranged as either as two parallel spans or as two bridges, one over the other.
Tangles of thick and overwhelming roots are later joined to make a solid and strolling span. Individuals of the Khasi and Janita tribe hold dominance in plaiting these extensions through ages, obviously, these Bridges are way preferable and more grounded over the wooden ones and have no negative impact of downpours on them. These roots have come out of some genuine antiquated rubber trees, which are one of a kind to upper east locale in India. Some of these are accepted to be over 500 years of age!
Some of the Famous ones are Ritymmen Root Bridge, Umshiang Double Decker Root Bridge, Ummunoi Root Bridge. Umkar Root Bridge and a few more. These are the few ones that can be easily accessed.
A wonder that is worth the visit …!!
Categories: Tourism India