Jingkieng Jri : Living Root Bridge Of Riwai of Meghalaya

Thatched cottages in Riwai Village

Contd from the first part :  . It took us a little more than three hours to reach Riwai Viilage which is just two km before Mawlynnong .The outside temperature at 31C  was pretty hot for Meghalaya .Sun was sharp .Pranab did a good thing to bring  a Sun Cap .We parked our car near  first way to the living root bridge (another was  just few mt away) .We had heard so much about the living root bridges of Meghalaya  and finally we were about to see one . There was this small sign board which pointed at the narrow pathway to the bridge.

To quench the thirst visitors can buy fresh and very juicy Pineapples if they want .The local sellers  peel ,cut and beautifully serve it on a stainless steel  plate with some red chilli flakes and salt . Pineapple is one of the major fruit crops of Meghalaya.The area smelt of ripen Jackfruits which we saw in abundance here.

Villagers occupied with their daily work hardly noticed the visitors until called . They were polite,friendly and readily agreed to let us photograph them.Broomstick has always been a fence crop here and most of  the villagers are engaged in the business of making and selling brooms.  A biodiversity paradise that Meghalaya is ,it is home to a large number of medicinal plants .

ticket stand

 This is the place where we bought entrance tickets .A village teen issued us the ticket .The fee was 10 Rs /head .The spot is managed by village authorities and thankfully there is no govt interference here.

stone pathway

We followed a stone pathway .These kind of path are known as King's Way . Khasi villages are inter connected through these.At some places we saw the old stone path was replaced by new stones. We met some visitors who after seeing the steps gave away the idea of going  to the bridge . How sad ,they had no idea what they missed .

 The beauty of the path and it's surrounding took my breath away .I kept on looking back and around .Walking this path  barefoot i felt so alive .After walking for ten to fifteen minutes we heard the sound of  river water splashed against rocks.We were about to reach this fantasy land .It was like a  place  from the movies Harry Potter / Lord Of The Rings.

living root bridge Riwai : view as you approach

 First glimpse of the bridge almost stopped my heart beats .I was looking at  one of the most extraordinary piece of art and engineering work done by human and nature as a team.As an old tradition Khasi's have been growing / creating living root bridges to cross the rivers.Most of these bridges are fully functional and are being used till date.Khasis used/use Rubber Plants (Ficus Elastica) for it as the tree grows many secondary roots.Some of these bridges are over hundreds year old.

Thanks to Pranab for this picture : stone path on the bridge

The process is long and takes  great deal of care and patience .Rubber trees  on  the banks of the river are selected. A root guidance system is used by hollowing out a Kwai/Tamul (Bettel Nut) Tree trunk .This hollow helps in containing and guiding the young and soft roots of the rubber tree from spreading out till they reach straightway to the other side of the river.They are further allowed to take roots in the soil .As the time passes by they become strong .Later stones are added to the gaps in between to create a path .The whole process takes ten to fifteen years the bridge to be fully functional.Some of these can bear the weight of up to fifty people at the same time.

a view from the back

The roots are naturally self-renewing and self-strengthening as the component roots grow thicker.As a rule if any villager notices a new root they carefully arrange it accordingly.

stone and root path over the bridge : thanks to Pranab

There are many such bridges in the state .One of the most amazing and hugest is in Umshiang's Double Decker Root Bridge.

A top view : image courtesy Pranab

 We almost forgot about Mawlynnong. Took lots of pictures .There were not more than six to ten visitors there.But we did notice many villagers passing through .Even the concrete bridges shake a little when the vehicles or people pass over it but not this one .

 Look at the roots : nature's brilliant art work.Even  after so many days i still have a dekho at my album at least twice.

 This is how the bridge looks from the front .A better view could have been captured from the river down .But we skipped it as we had already spent a lot of time there.

 Some parts of the bridge looked like beautifully designed picture frame - each one of us took the opportunity to pose .

 As i mentioned earlier village rules prevail here ..... read the warning .

 How we wished that we had more time in hand .We moved back to where we had parked our car .The way back was little tiring as we had to climb many steps .Took some rest in between.

 We had some company too.

Now we moved towards Mawlynnong : a km or two and we reached there ....
To Be Contd