9 Things You Should Know Before Visiting Meghalaya

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9 Things You Should Know Before Visiting Meghalaya
One of the most beautiful places in the world,
Meghalaya is a north- eastern Indian state.
Known as the abode of the clouds it is bordered
by Bangladesh on the South and by Assam on the
North. The people of Meghalaya are deeply
religious and believe in tribal culture and
folklore. As the state has been bestowed
generously by nature, people from all around the
world come to visit this land for its beauty and
tranquillity. Meghalaya tourist places are plenty
in number and each one offers something new and
striking to see. Before you visit Meghalaya
tourism place lets take a look at some of its
most interesting facts. Most of the tribal
groups situated in Meghalaya follow a matrilineal
system. It means that instead of the oldest son,
the youngest daughter of the family inherits
everything and she is the caretaker of her old
parents and any unmarried siblings. If a family
has no daughters, they adopt a girl from another
family by performing religious ceremonies in
front of the community. This custom is
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known as ia rap iing. They can also select a
daughter-in-law as the head of the house
instead. Meghalaya has one of the largest
surviving matrilineal cultures in the
world. Meghalaya is very famous for its Living
Root Bridges. They are a kind of simple
suspension bridge made of living root plants.
These bridges are made through the process of
tree shaping which involves training the roots
of the Ficus Elastica tree to grow a certain way.
It can take up to 15 years for the roots to
become strong enough to hold the weight of human
beings and the longer these roots survive the
stronger they become. Meghalaya has living root
bridges as old as 500 years. Its most famous
root bridge is the Double Decker Root Bridge
that has a root bridge stacked on top of the
other. Meghalaya is known as the wettest place
on Earth. It has received the heaviest rainfall
in the world. It is rarely the case that it is
not raining in this beautiful state and it is
known for receiving an average of 1,150 cm
rainfall every year. Cherrapunji in Sohra has
received the most rain in a month while the
village of Mawsynram has the record for
receiving most rain in a year. Due to a massive
deforestation in the recent years, flash floods
have become a norm in this place. Due to a heavy
rainfall, Meghalaya offers a huge variety of
flora and fauna for you to fawn over. Pun
intended! Being only one of three Indian states
to have so, Meghalaya has a Christian majority
with 75 of its population following the
religion. Since the Garo and Khasi tribes make
for a majority of the population their religion
is the most prominent in the state with the rest
of the tribes being majorly Hindu. Hindus make
up for the largest minority in this state with
an 11. 52 while Muslims are a mere 4. 39. The
reason for this majority is colonization. British
India started converting indigenous tribes into
Christians in the 19th century. Presbyterians and
Catholics are the most common denominations
present in Meghalaya today.
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Did you know that Hindi is taught as an option
subject in Meghalaya? You heard it right!
Schools in Meghalaya private, government or
religious institutions only teach the students in
English language. All the other languages of
India like Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Garo,
Khasi, Mizo, Nepali, and Urdu are taught as
optional subjects. To regulate the matters of
education in the state, the Meghalaya Board of
School Education was setup in 1973. This board is
majorly responsible for conducting the Secondary
School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) and the Higher
Secondary School Leaving Certificate (HSSLC)
Exams. Meghalaya is an agrarian economy which
means the economy of Meghalaya is based upon
growing crops and maintaining farmland. Almost
10 of the land in this state is under
cultivation on which the 80 of their population
survives. One would think that the people of
this state would be experts in the subject of
Agriculture. But that is not the case! People
here make a limited use of modern techniques and
therefore yield poor results and low
productivity. Due to this a total of 12 of the
state population is below poverty line and the
state still imports food from other Indian
states. In 2018 it was discovered that Meghalaya
has the largest sandstone in the world. A 25-day
expedition later, scientists found a 24,583-
meter-long canal in a cave. It is home to
dinosaur fossils as old as 70 million years and
you have to crawl through the cave to explore
it. This sandstone is situated in the village of
Laitsohum in the Mawsynram. Earlier this title
belonged to Cueva El Samán in Venezuela but the
Meghalaya cave is 6,000 meters longer than this.
Meghalaya has 1,650 caves in total out of which
only 1,000 have been explored so far. Jhum
farming has been an age-old tradition in the
Northeastern India including Meghalaya. It
involves the process of slashing or burning a
patch of forest land destroying dried trees,
shrubs and bushes. It is done under the belief
that this improves soil quality. Although, in
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recent times this practice has become a threat to
the natural biodiversity of the state as many
dense patches of land have been lost because of
it. It has become a significant problem in
Meghalaya especially as most people depend on
agriculture for their livelihood. Meghalaya has
one of the largest eco-tourism circuits in India
and therefore, benefits a lot from it. A large
part of the states economy thrives on Meghalaya
tourism. Due to the many adventure sports like
mountaineering, rock climbing, trekking, and
hiking, spelunking and water sports this state
has to offer it is a hit amongst Meghalaya
tourist. Meghalaya tour places include Umiam
Lake, Cherrapunji, Elephant falls, Dawki,
Mawlynnong village, Living Root Bridges, etc. Due
to covid, a valid e-invite is necessary to travel
to this Indian state. Book Meghalaya Tour
Packages with Capture a Trip
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