Log in
EN हिंदी
Hally War
← All heroes
Social work · Meghalaya

The bridge that takes fifty years to build

A concrete bridge has an opening day. A living root bridge does not. Hally War has spent half a century coaxing tree roots across a stream in Meghalaya, a few inches at a time.

Hally Warहैली वार
WhatsApp X Facebook

Hally War beside the roots of a living bridge. Photo: via Guwahati Plus

Listen to this story0:00 / 1:57
Narrated with an AI voice
Born
5 February 1957
Village
Siej, Sohra, East Khasi Hills, Meghalaya
Craft
Living root bridges (Jingkieng Jri) from Ficus elastica
Honour
Padma Shri 2026
50+years guiding roots
~10his age when he began
2026Padma Shri

Growing, not building

Hally War’s story is not about constructing a bridge. It is about growing one over decades. Meghalaya’s Khasi people make living root bridges, Jingkieng Jri, by guiding the aerial roots of the rubber fig tree (Ficus elastica). According to his official Padma citation, Hally War was born on 5 February 1957 and has been part of this indigenous craft of living engineering since he was about ten.

The Umkar bridge

In Siej village, Sohra, he has carefully guided, woven together and nurtured aerial roots over streams and river crossings. His best-known work is the Umkar living root bridge. Unlike a concrete bridge, it has no single day of completion: the roots take years, even decades, to grow strong, join together and carry weight. That makes his work a rare example of engineering built on patience.

Knowledge from his father and grandfather

On a PIB press tour in September 2026, War explained to journalists how the roots are guided and tended over many years, and said he learned this from his father and grandfather. So this is less a personal invention than the care and passing-on of knowledge across generations. The citation also notes his influence through teaching younger families, building ecological resilience and supporting sustainable tourism.

He is also a farmer, growing betel nut, betel leaf, black pepper and fruit, so his knowledge of nature is part of daily life on the land. The Padma Shri gave national recognition to a man who had worked for decades, largely unseen, behind one of Meghalaya’s best-loved sights.

Sources