A Living Roots guest standing on a living root bridge in Meghalaya

Vanishing Architecture

Bamboo, stone and pitched roof.

Stilt longhouses on the Brahmaputra islands. Khasi cottages with corrugated tin and clay floors. Konyak morungs carved with hornbills. The vernacular is being replaced by concrete every monsoon.

A Living Roots guest standing on a living root bridge in Meghalaya

East Khasi Hills, Meghalaya

Living Root Bridges of the Khasi Hills

200+ years · Still growing

The War-Khasi guide the aerial roots of the Ficus elastica across rivers in slow handmade trellises. A bridge takes two human generations to mature, and lasts five.

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