Punalur Hanging Bridge

The first suspension bridge of South India has a beautiful history as its structure. The bridge constructed during the reign of Travancore King - Ayilam Thirunal Rama Varma took around 6 years to construct. The work on the bridge started in 1872 under the supervision of the Scottish architect Albert Henry. It was finally open for use in 1877. The bridge over the Kallada river was an architectural marvel like none other during its time. Most of the materials for the construction were brought from England & only the wood was procured from Kerala. The Kambam wood was used & is still used for making renovations. 

The bridge is supported on both sides by four wells which are over 100ft deep and the chains are anchored using discs. The wells itself are a marvel as the construction of these are a mystery till date. The whole bridge is supported on 2 spans made with stones & iron arranged in a gate design. The bridge is 400ft long and has railings on both sides with wood panels arranged over iron structure. The suspension bridge design was the reason why it took so many years to construct this colossal structure. The workers had to arrange their work based on the river flows as they did not have any pillars to hold onto during the time of heavy river flow. 

As per the old records the need for a bridge was to help the people in Punalur undertake trade with the other side & so the Raja invited the British to submit designs. The people were against the bridge as the animals in dense forests on the other side would destroy their farms by crossing the river and a bridge would facilitate this further. This fear of the people is the reason why an idea of suspension bridge came up. The suspension bridge will allow people to move vehicles and carts across the river but if wild animals tried using the bridge, the floor would shake and scare them from crossing over the bridge.  

When the bridge was finally completed, it was opened for all to use but people still preferred using the country boats along the river. When the matter came up to Albert Henry, he asked people why they would not use the bridge, the answer was fear! People around felt that the bridge was not strong enough to carry vehicles and they feared of falling in the river. Albert Henry had to find a way to make people believe in the bridge, so he asked the Raja to line up 6 elephants on the bridge and he with his family took a boat ride under the bridge making it clear for all to trust his design. The trust in the design has stayed for over 150 years now & the structure has withstood ageing with grandeur. 

It was only in after 100 years that the need for another strong concrete bridge came up to accommodate more traffic. One can now see another bridge next to the suspension bridge which is used for vehicular traffic while the heritage suspension bridge is for people to walk along. The bridge is now a protected monument & has a beautiful garden with resting benches placed for people to marvel at this beautiful structure.