Living root bridges, Nongriat village, Meghalaya

Nongriat is a village in the East Khasi Hills district of

Meghalaya Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of Assam: (a) the United Khasi Hills and J ...

State, in north-eastern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is perhaps best known for its

living root bridges A living root bridge is a type of simple suspension bridge formed of living plant roots by tree shaping. They are common in the southern part of the Indian state of Meghalaya. They are handmade from the aerial roots of rubber fig trees ('' Fi ...

; one an impressive double-decker suspension bridge called Jingkieng Nongriat. The village has three functional root bridges. These are crafted by hand, as the

Khasi people The Khasi people are an ethnic group of Meghalaya in north-eastern India with a significant population in the bordering state of Assam, and in certain parts of Bangladesh. Khasi people form the majority of the population of the eastern part of M ...

have done in the

Khasi Hills The Khasi Hills () is a low mountain formation on the Shillong Plateau in Meghalaya state of India. The Khasi Hills are part of the Garo-Khasi-Jaintia range and connects with the Purvanchal Range and larger Patkai Range further east. Khasi Hil ...

for centuries, intertwining and

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...

together the

aerial root Aerial roots are roots above the ground. They are almost always adventitious. They are found in diverse plant species, including epiphytes such as orchids (''Orchidaceae''), tropical coastal swamp trees such as mangroves, banyan figs (''Fic ...

s of

banyan A banyan, also spelled "banian", is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adventitious prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as a ...

trees on opposite sides of a stream-filled gorge. Jingkieng Nongriat, better known simply as ''Double Decker,'' has been featured on international

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

programs such as the ''

Human Planet ''Human Planet'' is an 8-part British television documentary series. It is produced by the BBC with co-production from Discovery and BBC Worldwide. It describes the human species and its relationship with the natural world by showing the remar ...

'' series filmed in 2008 by BBC Wales, and a documentary by Osamu Monden in June 2004 for

Asahi TV JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Compa ...

in Japan. There is another functioning living root bridge upstream from Nongriat, along with a hybrid structure that is made from both roots and steel wire. Near Nongriat, and best viewed from the neighboring village of Laitkynsew during the autumn

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal osci ...

season as a magnificent cascade, is the waterfall of Ka Likai. A succession of stone steps connect the community with neighboring village of Tyrna, just below the Cherrapunji- Laitkynsew bridle-path.

References

External links

Villages in East Khasi Hills district {{Meghalaya-stub