‘The knowledge of our elders’: India’s living root bridges submitted to Unesco
India’s famous living bridges – the roots of trees coaxed and stretched into the form of a suspension bridge over a river – have been submitted to Unesco’s tentative list for the coveted world heritage site status.
The mountainous state of Meghalaya in the north-east has more than 100 such bridges in 70 villages, unique structures created by a combination of nature and human ingenuity.
Once a bamboo structure has been stretched across the river, the roots of the tree, usually the rubber tree (Ficuselastica), are teased and manipulated to become entwined with the bamboo until it becomes a strong mesh.
The roots are allowed to grow gradually and strengthen over time. In the initial stages, only about 15-20 people can cross the bridge in a day. Much later, it can be as many as 50 or more, although it can take up to two decades for a living roots bridge to be finished.
In a remote region such as Meghalaya, known as the “Abode of Clouds” and home to the “wettest place on earth” in Cherrapunji, building roads is not feasible. The topography is dense jungle dotted with waterfalls, steep slopes, lakes and streams.
The living root bridges are the only way people in a village can cross a river to reach the other side to farm, sell produce, reach a doctor or send children to school. During general elections, officials on horseback carrying ballot boxes to remote villages have no other means of reaching voters but these natural bridges.
Known locally as Jingkieng Jri, some bridges are doubledeckers. Some are high above a valley, while others are just a few metres above the surface of a river.
A description on the Unesco website says: “Grown by indigenous Khasi tribal communities, these structural ecosystems have performed in extreme climatic conditions for centuries, and encapsulate a profound harmony between humans and nature … validating the resilience of an ancient culture, where collective cooperation and reciprocity were the fundamental building blocks of life.
“Each living root structure reveals a distinct ethno-botanical journey rooted in profound culture-nature reciprocity
and synthesis. The intergenerational growth process of nurturing a sapling into a robust load-bearing structure in extreme climate and geography reveals exceptional enterprise and skill, suggesting a masterpiece of human creative genius.”
The root bridges are not yet afforded world heritage status. However, by placing them on Unesco’s “tentative list”, the Indian government is making a vital step needed to submit them for consideration by the World Heritage Committee.
Morningstar Khongthaw, 23, is the founder of the Living Bridges Foundation,
which builds new bridges and helps preserve old ones. His village, Rangthylling, has 20 living roots bridges.
“I am very glad that the knowledge of our elders has been recognised by Unesco. We want to multiply this knowledge so that future generations also benefit,” said Khongthaw.
Already popular with tourists, the state government has been pushing for the Unesco tag for years in the hope it will become easier to preserve the bridges while also boosting tourism.
James Sangma, a cabinet minister in Meghalaya, expressed the state’s excitement in a tweet.
He said: “The living root bridges not only stand out for their exemplary human-environment symbiotic relationship but also focus on their pioneering use for connectivity and resilience, and the need to adopt sustainable measures to balance economy and ecology.”