The living-roots bridge

You must have seen bridge made of wood, bridge made of steel and cement but wait a minute, have you ever seen a bridge made of roots of the trees and that too without using any nails? Yes, it is one of the wonders of the nature, it is a bridge made by weaving the roots of two banyan trees across the river. I think the bridge was made with human intervention by entwining the roots of the two trees in such away that it becomes a bridge that connect the two villages. I think it must have taken the villagers many decades to make the bridge as it is. The two trees standing across the river looks like they are joining their hands to make the bridge with their living roots.

The living-roots bridge is not in Mawlynnong village itself, but it is in a village near Mawlynnong and the bridge is about 400 meteres away from the road to Mawlynnong. Ifact if one travels to Malynnong one will pass through this villages first and then reach Mawlynnong, but it is advisable that one visit Mawlynnong first and then visit the root-bridge on the way to Shillong or Jowai.

This is not the only living-roots bridge, there are many other root-bridge in the Padu area and even in Nongtalang I remember when I was a boy we use to walk on a root-bridge to my grandmother’s orange orchard. The Unitarian Jowai Church Jowai has two Sunday Schools and this particular Sunday School meet in the Jowai Church while the other group meet in the Kurimai School, Dongmihsngi Ladthalaboh which is on the other side of Jowai town every sunday. It is obvious that the living-roots bridge is the start attraction from the mere fact that the Children spend most of their time on the spot. 46 persons including the children and their teachers guide went on the trip.
On our way back to Jowai via Dawki, we went to see another nature wonder a water fall on the way to Dawki. This Water fall is also beautiful and because our visit is during the dry spell of winter, there was not much water on the fall. The fall is beautiful beyond comparison and the walk to the fall is also an adventure in itself. The path is not paved and I don’t think it is advisable to visit the fall during summer not because it is slippery but because of the leeches.
Well we all enjoy the trip, but the trip was never intended to be a fun trip only. I owe this idea to the UU congregation which organised a simmilar trip for its young member but the goal is what I call CRP. I know CRP is a dreaded acronym in Meghalaya. But in this case C stands for word CONNECT, R stands for RESPECT and P stands for PROTECT. It is only when young people connect with the nature that they will learn to respect nature and then fight to protect the mother nature.