July 13th, 2013 | Blog, Travel, arborsculpture, Arbortecture, biotecture, bridge, D.I.Y., Ficus elastica, grow, India, living, living architecture, living art, Meghalaya, monsoon, pooktre, river, roots, tree sculpture, tree shaping, tree training, trees, War-Khasis, water
The living bridges of Cherrapunji, India are made from the roots of the Ficus elastica tree. The root bridges, some of which are over a hundred feet long, take ten to fifteen years to become fully functional, but they’re extraordinarily strong – strong enough that some of them can support the weight of fifty or more people at a time.
Because they are alive and still growing, the bridges actually gain strength over time – and some of the ancient root bridges used daily by the War-Khasis people of the villages around Cherrapunji may be well over five hundred years old.
July 14th, 2012
Interesting to see how these kids set up their own support system and are so responsible! Very impressive example :)
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May 17th, 2012
Recently I have become aware of my personal sensitivity to EMFs which has been steadily increasing with the increase in use of wireless technology. I have been on the GAPS diet for two years, which has helped my condition immensely but I hit a plateau with my healing about 6 months ago. I have b ...
May 12th, 2012
Source: Sanhati
By Roma Today natural resources – land, forests, air, mineral and water – are under major attack from neo-liberalism, wherein a few are usurping the rights and access of a significant proportion of the disempowered. Unsustainable economic development and inequitable growt ...
December 19th, 2011
Alex Rossi, India correspondent reports on the most recent surge of suicides in India. This has been going on for more than a decade now. I remember how shocked I was when I first learned of this terrible situation, since then it has only gotten worse. Monsanto and other corporations in the Big Ag w ...
November 21st, 2011
We've been attending the HUGGS yearly benefits since we moved to Vancouver. HUGGS CANADA sponsors young people in India who show the potential to continue their studies but whose families do not have the necessary resources. HUGGS is committed to providing the educational and support needs of our st ...
June 2nd, 2011
Welcome back to World Food Thursdays, please scroll down to the bottom of the page and link up your delicious international food! We want to see food from every corner of the world together, side by side being delicious all in one common community. We want to revel in our diversity, to respect e ...
August 25th, 2010
Given the rising plethora of food outbreaks courtesy of our industrial food system, this article will give us some history and a clear example of how large-scale agriculture is destroying every corner of our world. The following events are taken from Vandana Shiva's book Stolen Harvest: The Hijac ...
August 28th, 2009
I recently got a recommendation to read the massive book Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts and let me tell you it is worth every second. I feel as if I am right there with him in the slums of Bombay, fighting off feral dogs, and tending to the rat bites of the local children. If you haven't read th ...
