The Fabled Land of the Khasi People

The Khasi live in the central hills and plateaus of Meghalaya. Among the earliest settlers of the subcontinent, they have a long history with this land; their religion and their lore are rooted in it, and both are mysterious. In this rainy, clouded country of clean rivers, rolling hills, dense forest, and untouched valleys, the Khasi have flourished for thousands of years as a culture that respects nature and learns from it. Most are Christians today, but the ways of their ancestors are still a real part of daily life — in the sacred forests, in how sustainably they live, and in their fables, folklore, and customs. The best example of that connection is the living root bridges: structures grown, not built, by training the roots of fig trees across a river. Some are over a hundred feet long. They take ten to thirty years to become usable, and then they are extraordinarily strong — some carry fifty people at once. Because they are alive and still growing, they get stronger with age, and a few of them are well over five hundred years old. The Khasi call themselves Ki Khun U Hynñiewtrep, the children of the seven huts, and believe their religion was given by God, built on one supreme creator, U Blei Nongthaw. A Khasi is deeply religious with an intense love of life, holding that life is the creator’s greatest gift and must be accounted for afterward. They are largely matrilineal: lineage and inheritance pass to the women of a family, and remarkably it is the youngest daughter who inherits the property and cares for aging parents and unmarried siblings — which connects, metaphorically, to the tribe’s deep respect for mother nature. On this trip you cross a landscape of green, caves, waterfalls, rivers, and lakes. Around Cherrapunji, the wettest place on earth, you find a way of living shaped entirely by torrential rain. In the village of Nongriat, reachable only on foot, a double-decker root bridge dominates the valley alongside turquoise pools and forest full of fruit, butterflies, and wildflowers. The people here are healthy and carry real knowledge of how to live alongside a forest; someone once described an eighty-year-old villager hiking home with a refrigerator on his back. Finally Mawlynnong, famous for how pretty it is, where an educated Khasi community keeps their village exceptionally clean — small neat lanes, cozy houses, front yards full of flowers and kitchen gardens. Tourism here is community-run and deliberately small, and the money goes straight to the residents.

Traveling with Greener Pastures means hassle-free, insightful journeys in the hands of passionate experts. All our naturalist guides are from the region and have deep knowledge of the local wildlife, terrain, and communities. Every tour can be tailored to your interests and fitness level.