One Man’s Mission To Save Meghalaya’s Living Root Bridges

Hidden deep in the densely forested valleys of Meghalaya’s Khasi Hills reside the wondrous living root bridges--part man-made, part natural structures adorning the North East. Made up of strong and limber ‘secondary roots’ of Ficus elastica--the Indian rubber tree, they are primarily found along the river valleys. Intricately woven together, and grown over a span of 10-20 years, these magnificent bridges are truly a natural treasure. Unfortunately, these beautiful structures are wrapped in mystery, with not a lot of recorded information about their lives and tales. From what little that is known about them, it’s believed that the members of the War Khasi and War Jaintia tribes reside across this region. However, little is known about the first bridges built and how many actually exist today, but we’ll still try to piece together a picture.

Known as the ‘wettest’ place on Earth, this region receives great amounts of rainfall that feed its zig-zagging rivers and brings life to the flora and fauna. But this beautiful green picture has a downside as well, as it proved to be a great obstacle for the residing tribal people.

The increasing water levels of the once mellow rivers made it very hard for people to cross through on foot. While bamboo bridges that were initially built would easily rot and weaken, leaving many villagers stranded in places that the rains made close to unreachable, the naturally-grown substitutes are effective, ingenious and, well, gorgeous. The root bridges have manifested as a reliable alternative, to say the least. And even though they take a long time to form into fully-functional paths, their strength and durability only increases over time. Some of the bridges are said to be over 500 years old, and stretch up to as long as 150 feet--don’t drop that jaw yet, we’ve just gotten started.

As stated by Atlas Obscura, “The War-Khasis, a tribe in Meghalaya, long ago noticed this tree and saw in its powerful roots an opportunity to easily cross the area’s many rivers. Now, whenever and wherever the need arises, they simply grow their bridges.In order to make a rubber tree’s roots grow in the right direction--say, over a river--the Khasis use betel nut trunks, sliced down the middle and hollowed out, to create root-guidance systems. The thin, tender roots of the rubber tree, prevented from fanning out by the betel nut trunks, grow straight out. When they reach the other side of the river, they’re allowed to take root in the soil. Given enough time, a sturdy, living bridge is produced.” While we’ve marveled over the beauty and resourcefulness of these bridges of strength, we now turn to recognise the problem plaguing them.

Sadly, over the past few decades, the practice of growing root bridges has been on a decline. These innovative and eco-friendly architectural masterpieces are slowly but surely disintegrating and being destroyed by floods, fires, deforestation and overall neglect. They require maintenance, albeit nothing that needs great capital and unnatural resources, but the interest in maintaining, even growing new bridges, is being lost. In several areas, steel and modern technology are being taken up to build bridges; a less time-consuming process. And in this dark cloud of nature-vs-machine, there’s a silver lining knight by the name of Patrick Rogers.

Patrick Rogers of the Living Root Bridge Project is on a mission to preserve and protect these unique root bridges. He first heard of the bridges back in 2008, and it was in 2011 when he finally saw one face-to-face. His fascination grew, and in 2013 he hiked through the region and explored from Nongriat to the village of Tynrong, and then further on to the villages of Umblai and Mawphu.There are a few bridges which have gained the attention of tourists, and efforts are being made to restore and preserve them, such as the double decker root bridge in Cherrapunji. But most have long been forgotten and will soon be lost in the wilds of the Khasi hills, and that’s where Rogers’ Project steps in to intervene.

As posted on the project’s page, Rogers speaks of his aim to “locate, map, measure, and photograph as many of these structures.” Further, he adds, “I’ll use this information to create a blog/database, using wordpress or a similar platform, on which I will, to the best of my abilities, list as many of these structures as possible. My hope is that this will both spread awareness of the phenomenon so that the people of the region may further benefit from it, and also contribute to its preservation for future generations.”

Rogers launched a GoFundme campaign in the hopes of raising funds for his studies, along with his journey into Meghalaya’s forests. Increasing local and international interests in the root bridges can push the local and State governments to take an active interest in spreading awareness and initiate campaigns for their protection, and increases in tourism has it’s benefits for the local communities, while maintaining their traditions and keeping modern development projects at bay.

“My hope is that creating a database of living root structures will focus a certain amount of attention towards these lesser known communities, who have so much to gain from preserving their living root architecture,” concludes our knight in green and brown armour.

You can visit Patrick Rogers blog to learn more about his efforts towards the restoration and documentation of the root bridges in Meghalaya.

Feature image courtesy of Planet Custodian.

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