Jingkieng jri: Living Root Bridge
Jingkieng jri: Living Root Bridge Cultural Landscapes is part of the Tentative list of India in order to qualify for inclusion in the World Heritage List.
The Jingkieng Jri in Meghalaya are 72 bridges and other structures built by remote communities from the roots of ficus trees. The indigenous Khasi community developed a technique to plant saplings and nurture them into a strong structure.
Map of Jingkieng jri: Living Root Bridge
Load mapThe coordinates shown for all tentative sites were produced as a community effort. They are not official and may change on inscription.
Community Reviews
Usagi1974
The fact that 'living root bridges' in Meghalaya state haven't made it to UNESCO list yet, and that Indian government only put them as candidate last year, is surprising. The main criteria - outstanding universal value - is obvious from the moment we see these unique structures. They're created by slow - taking several dozen years - shaping of growing tree roots by Khasi and Jaintia tribes in Northwest India. Once mature, they can serve the pedestrians for ages - holding up to 50 people, with such wonders as 'double decker' and double-lane bridges. They blend into surrounding jungle, resulting in a mood that we'd rather expect from a fairy tale scenography. Haven't seen anything similar in other parts if the world and I doubt it can be matched for uniqueness by other 'living' structures (although I appreciate that shaping a bonsai tree also takes hundreds of years :) ).
The logistics there is a bit inconvenient as the 'seven sisters' states in North-Eastern India are off the beaten track - but nothing too complicated: we flew from Delhi to Gujarati, took local transport to Shillong and arranged a private car with driver to take us to the place. Just please remember that the surrounding area is called 'valley of 10,000 stairs' and the name comes for a reason! We visited in 2011, so the practicalities may have changed - although the entire region seemed to be running at pretty slow pace, so I doubt they're much different today. Also we only saw the few 'highlights' - the most popular bridges. The area where they have been built is large - according to Wikipedia there are 75 structures still alive - so there may be more hidden gems deep in the jungle, awaiting more publicity. Long story short, a no-brainer for me to be put on WHS list.
Site Info
- Full Name
- Jingkieng jri: Living Root Bridge Cultural Landscapes
- Country
- India
- Added
- 2022
- Type
- Cultural
- Categories
- Cultural Landscape - Continuing
- Link
- By ID
Site History
2022 Added to Tentative List
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Locations
The site has 73 locations