Double living root bridge in East Khasi Hills (2011)
Crosses
Creeks
Characteristics
Material
Living trees roots
Trough construction
Rocks
Total length
examples over 50 metres (160 ft)
Width
examples over 1.5 metres (5 ft)
Design life
up to 500 years
History
Architect
War Khasis, War Jaintias, Konyak Nagas, Baduy people, and other groups
Local Khasis using the young, pliable aerial roots of a fig tree to create a new railing for a bridge near the village of Kongthong
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Living root bridges are a kind of tree shaping in which rivers are spanned by architecture formed out of the roots of ficus plants. Due to their being made from living, growing, trees, they "show a very wide variety of structural typologies, with various aspects of particular bridges resembling characteristics of suspension bridges, cable-stayed bridges, arches, trusses, and simply-supported beams."[1] They are common in the Indian state of Meghalaya.
The structures are handmade from the aerial roots of rubber fig trees (Ficus elastica[2][3]) by the Khasi and Jaiñtia[4][5]peoples of the mountainous terrain along the southern part of the Shillong Plateau. Most of the bridges grow on steep slopes of subtropical moist broadleaf forest between 50 and 1,150 m (160 and 3,770 ft) above sea level.[6]
As long as the tree from which it is formed remains healthy, the roots in the bridge can naturally grow thick and strengthen. New roots can grow throughout the tree's life and must be pruned or manipulated to strengthen the bridge. Once mature, some bridges can have as many as 50 or more people crossing, and have a lifespan of several hundred years.[7][8] Without active care, many bridges have decayed or grown wild, becoming unusable.[9] Written documentation of living root bridges was sparse until the 2010s, but in 2017, researchers geo-located a total of 75 living root bridges.[10]
Living root bridges have also been created in the Indian state of Nagaland,[11] in Indonesia at Jembatan akar on the island of Sumatra, and in the Banten province of Java, by the Baduy people.[12]
^Ludwig, Ferdinand; Middleton, Wilfrid; Gallenmüller, Friederike; Rogers, Patrick; Speck, Thomas (22 August 2019). "Living bridges using aerial roots of ficus elastica – an interdisciplinary perspective". Scientific Reports. 9 (1): 12226. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-48652-w. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 6706416.
^Lewin, Brent (November 2012), "India's living Bridges", Reader's Digest Australia, pp. 82–89, archived from the original on 16 November 2012
^"Living Root Bridge in Laitkynsew India". www.india9.com. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
^Reporter, By Our (21 November 2011). "End of Khasi-Pnar benevolence". The Shillong Times. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
^Ludwig, Ferdinand; Middleton, Wilfrid; Gallenmüller, Friederike; Rogers, Patrick; Speck, Thomas (22 August 2019). "Living bridges using aerial roots of ficus elastica – an interdisciplinary perspective". Scientific Reports. 9 (1): 12226. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-48652-w. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 6706416.
^Ludwig, Ferdinand & Middleton, Wilfrid & Gallenmüller, Friederike & Rogers, Patrick & Speck, Thomas. (2019). Living bridges using aerial roots of ficus elastica – an interdisciplinary perspective. Scientific Reports. 9. 10.1038/s41598-019-48652-w.
^Ludwig, Ferdinand; Middleton, Wilfrid; Gallenmüller, Friederike; Rogers, Patrick; Speck, Thomas (22 August 2019). "Living bridges using aerial roots of ficus elastica – an interdisciplinary perspective". Scientific Reports. 9 (1): 12226. Bibcode:2019NatSR...912226L. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-48652-w. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 6706416. PMID 31439904.
^Chithra, K.; Krishnan, K. Amritha (2015). Implementing Campus Greening Initiatives. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. pp. 113–124. ISBN 978-3-319-11960-1.
Livingrootbridges are a kind of tree shaping in which rivers are spanned by architecture formed out of the roots of ficus plants. Due to their being...
Rangthylliang 1 rootbridge is a livingrootbridge in Cherrapunji region, Meghalaya, northeast India. It is considered to be the longest livingrootbridge, at over...
major tourist destinations. Livingrootbridges Meghalaya is famous for its livingrootbridges, a kind of suspension bridge made over rivers using intertwined...
the whistled language "Jingrwai Iawbei" and build the remarkable livingrootbridges. Tourists and language researchers from several nations, including...
Jaintia tribal people have created livingrootbridges, which are a form of tree shaping. Here, simple suspension bridges are made by training the roots of...
its livingrootbridges; one an impressive double-decker suspension bridge called Jingkieng Nongriat. The village has three functional rootbridges. These...
Project". The LivingRootBridge Project. Archived from the original on 5 September 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2017. "The Living-RootBridge: The Symbol...
liable for NYC bridge jumpers: judge". New York Post. Retrieved January 3, 2019. "How are LivingRootBridges Made?". The LivingRootBridge Project. May...
practiced for at least several hundred years, as demonstrated by the livingrootbridges built and maintained by the Khasi people of India. Early 20th-century...
original on May 16, 2022. Retrieved June 3, 2022. "Jingkieng jri: LivingRootBridge Cultural Landscapes". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Archived from...
Germany and livingrootbridge in North-East India. Common in the Indian state of Meghalaya and grown by the Khasi and Jaintia, the bridges consist of...
trees to graft is occasionally exploited by tree shaping to create livingrootbridges in Meghalaya and Nagaland states in India and on the islands of Sumatra...
Dawki Bridge, is a suspension bridge over the Umngot River. It was constructed in 1932 by the British. LivingRootBridge: type suspension bridge created...
family. It is the grandest monument built during the Ahom era. The livingrootbridges of Cherrapunji aren't built – they are grown over hundreds of years...
A breathing bridge is a type of livingrootbridge handmade from the aerial roots of banyan trees from the region of Amazonas (Peru). Nukak Makú indigenous...
flooded rice fields in Indochina and China. There are 500-year-old bridges made by living roots in India, sculpted by the War-Khasis. These trees span rivers...
perhaps best known for its livingrootbridges. The Umnnoi livingrootbridge, known locally as Jingkieng Deingjri, which means 'bridge of the rubber tree',...
Rogers, Patrick A. (2015-09-02). "The Undiscovered LivingRootBridges of Meghalaya Part 2: Bridges Near Pynursla". Evenfewergoats.blogspot.com. Retrieved...
Jembatan akar (English: livingrootbridge) is the bridge that forms the fabric of the two roots of the trees that grow across and extends over a stream...
Root races are concepts in the esoteric cosmology of Theosophy. As described in Helena Petrovna Blavatsky's book The Secret Doctrine (1888), these races...
television season, Root appeared as a series regular as "R.O." on the Beau Bridges/Lloyd Bridges comedy/western series Harts of the West on CBS. Root guest-starred...
forests, and there are a number of waterfalls and the Rbang Amkhlew LivingRootBridge. The people of Nongtalang are mostly War-Jaintias, a tribal group...
tourist destination where people use the whistled language and build livingrootbridges. Kynrem Falls Mawlynnong village, located in the Pynsursla block...
least several hundred years, the oldest known examples being the livingrootbridges built and maintained by the Khasi people of Meghalaya, India using...
Pickups (Neck and Bridge). The Fender Jim Root Jazzmaster was unveiled at the 2014 NAMM Show. It has the same specs as the Jim Root Stratocaster. It only...
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