Why in news? A farmer  in Meghalaya takes forward the State’s traditional practice of building root bridges and connects two areas across Umkar river in Cherrapunjee

Highlights

• Farmer creation over the Umkar river in Siej village near Cherrapunjee(Sohra), in the undulating East Khasi Hills of Meghalaya has grown into a living marvel.
• Living root bridges of Khasi-Jaintia people promotes the sense of oneness with nature like most indigenous tribes.

About Living Roots Bridges

• It is a type of simple suspension bridge formed of living plant roots by tree shaping.
• State: Meghalaya
• Location : West Jaintia Hills district and East Khasi Hills district
• Handmade from the aerial roots of rubber fig trees by the Khasi and Jaintia
• Other living bridges: Nagaland, Indonesia at Jembatan akar( island of Sumatra), and in the Banten province of Java(Baduy people)
• Earliest written record: Henry Yule, in Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.
• Methods of creation: Use the roots of the rubber fig, learning the techniques to mould and model the roots into a bridge with the help of bamboo
• Notable root bridges: Rangthylliang bridge(longest known example of a living root bridge