BY HH Mohrmen
It was Danny Burke from Ireland who has done his research on the monoliths in Khasi and Jaiñtia hills who on a visit to the Amlarem area remarked, “We have only heard about the Living-root bridges of the Khasi Pnar, but now we know that there are Stone bridges too. The people who live on the Southern slopes of Meghalaya bordering Bangladesh are famous for the living-root bridges which they made or rather wove by using the roots of the Ficus Elastica commonly called the rubber tree. These bio-bridges have brought name and fame for the State of Meghalaya. But the megalithic bridge too has its own story.
If there is a place in Meghalaya which has a huge potential for promoting tourism, it is Amlarem, because the villages in the Blocks have varieties of spots which can attract tourists. If we divide Amlarem subdivision into three divisions then we have the uplands, the eastern slopes and the western slopes and each area has its own unique selling point. The upland areas would comprise villages from Jaraiñ village to Jowai and in this sector we already have Krangshuri waterfalls which attract huge tourist traffic. The success story of Krangshuri started with the former Deputy Commissioner, Jaintia Hills, FR Kharkongor who had initially helped developed the area. In fact it was he carefully mapped out spots like Ïalong sacred grove, developed the Jaraiñ pitcher plant lake, a spot on the bank of river Kupli at Ïooksi and a few other spots.
Under the leadership of Donbok Buam who is also the secretary of the raid Buam, along with the support of the District Administration they have not only been able to develop Krangshuri, but now adjacent to Krangshuri, a new spot known as Sua ladong is also being developed to attract tourists. But the product will be incomplete if another unique potential of the raid which is the only place which produces smoked fishes is neglected. Jaraiñ village has a potential which is yet to be tapped as the place also has a spring which produces salt water which attracts birds from the other places to migrate to the area during the summer.
This sector also has villages like Musterm, Moosakhia, Samanong and Ïongnoh which have virgin sacred groves, some of which are the largest in the state. Chyrmang village and its sacred grove could attract tourists because the community’s effort to protect and preserve animals in the sacred grove has helped increase the numbers of animal and deer in particular which visitors to the village can easily sight. The success of the project is also because of the support the community gave to the Forest Department in protecting the forests which are now under the Community Reserved Project.
In the Western slope sector, we already have the three villages of Shnongpdeng, Darang, and Dawki located on the banks of river Umngot and which are famous for the crystal clear water. The picture of the area that folks carry is that of a boat floating on the crystal clear water which looks like it is flying. The truth is the survival of these three spots depends solely on the condition of the river Umngot and as long as Umngot is free from pollution, the three spots will continue to attract tourists. This sector also has areas, the potential of which are yet to be tapped and perhaps this is the only place which has a large number of living-root bridges in the state, located in villages like Padu, Nongbareh and now Kudeng Rim which can be further developed.
After Krangshuri on the upland sector, Shnongpdeng, Darang and Dawki on the western sector, Kudeng-rim is another village on this sector which is going gung-ho in promoting the tourism potential of the area. Kudeng-rim already has beautiful falls on the river Amkshar and the old living-root bridge is now being developed into a double- decker bridge. Under the leadership of the Waheh Chnong Mondew Pohtam the community has gone ahead and added more value to the place by constructing a bamboo bridge without using a single nail and a tree house made of bamboo and many other attractions.
If this circuit is to be further developed, the community fish sanctuary famous for the endangered chocolate mahseer fish, the rock garden and the Nongbareh living-root bridge should also be developed. It may be mentioned that during the second Jaiñtia rebellion under the leadership of u Kiang Nangbah, the fight against the British in this area continued even after Kiang Nangbah was hanged and the trenches built can still be found.
The Western sector also has caves which are tourist friendly because as we know not all natural caves are tourist friendly. But Amlarem is also known for its culture. The area has rich cultural traditions but these cultures and traditions like the Longhai, the Chohñia, the Rongkhli (tiger festival) are dying out. The one that is still popular is Rongkusi.
Nongtalang is another village in the area which is famous for its culture. The joint family system is still prevalent in the area and Rongkhla is the festival performed by the people of Nongtalang only. The other important selling points of Nongtalang are the two viewpoints overlooking Bangladesh and also few living-root bridges.
The Eastern Sector already has Syndai which is famous for its cave, the Rupasor bathing ghat with all the sculptures and carvings; the ruined temple; the image of Ganesh which is sculpted on a single rock, the image of a baby elephant sculpted on a stone on the river Umpubon and downstream of the river Prang. What the locals call the Myntdu also has images sculpted or carved on stone. Villages like Karkhana also have tourist friendly caves.
The tourist attraction which traverses through the upland and eastern region is the famous royal path of the erstwhile Jaiñtia kings from Nartiang to Jaiñtiapur which is now in Bangladesh. The path comprises of monoliths which comprise standing stones or menhirs and table stones or dolmens on many portions of the paths which were also used as resting areas (kor shongthait). But the most significant aspect of the royal paths are the stone bridges which include those at Thlumuwi, Umiaknieh/Amjakniah near the famous Krangshuri waterfall and the other two stones bridges near Syndai and over the river Umpubon.
Throughout the 70 KM path which was paved with stones, there are four stone bridges. If one travels from Jowai, the first stone bridge is the megalithic bridge at Thlumuwi or river Umwi near the Jowai Amlarem road. The second stone bridge is the Umïaknieh or Amjakniah which is located very close to the Krangshuri waterfall. The two stone bridges have similar masonry style which is rudimentary in nature but the one at Umïaknieh has another addition in which the masonry work is much refined. Obviously the additional portion was added later, it may also be a repair work of the part of the original bridge which has collapsed.
The other two stone bridges are at located at Syndai near the river Umpubon and Rupasor bathing ghat. The two megalithic bridges at Syndai have different masonry styles; the finishing over the one over the river Umpubon is rudimentary in nature, but the megalithic one near Rupasor was built using stone blocks which were nicely carved and has an arch in which the stone blocks were fixed together using iron since cement was not available those days. Therefore from this preliminary study it is safe to conclude that the four megalithic bridges were not made by the same people or even in the same period. From the style and the nature of the work in making the four bridges, it can be concluded that they were built at two different eras by two different set of people.
When he first saw the megalithic bridges, Dr Glenn Kharkongor, Chancellor of Martin Luther Christian University, Shillong remarked: This is our Taj Mahal. From the report in the press we are informed that the Central Government has allotted a considerable amount of money for development of tourism in the State. The Government would therefore do well to allocate funds for protecting and preserving the stone bridges, the stone sculptures and carvings in the different parts of Jaiñtia hills. Jaiñtia hills is the only place where we have all kinds of stone structures from megaliths to microlith structures.