The three hundred years old Stone bridge on Namdang river is one of the architectural marvel of Ahom Dynasty of Assam.
Situated 15 km west of the Sivasagar, the stone bridge on the river Namdang near Gaurisagar was built by Ahom King Rudrsingha
in 1703. During it's three hundred years of life, the bridge has witnessed number of natural calamities like devastating
earthquakes, floods etc. But the stone bridge is proudly standing intact and still taking loads of tonnes of vehicles everyday.
Its definitely a great architectural achievement of the Ahom dynasty.
There are refrences of ten stone bridges in history constructed during the period of Ahom. Four of them are intact till date
in upper Assam. Namdang is one among them and most important one. Currently part of the 37th National Highway of the state,
the bridge is responsible for connecting the Sivasagar, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts to the rest of country.
The Namdang Stone Bridge(Xilor Xaaku) is 60 meter in length, 6 meters in width and 1.7 meters in height. King Rudra Singha called the architect of
the bridge from Cooch Behar. Historian Edward Gait mentioned the architect as Ghanashyamuddin. It is not still clear why
was he called, because there is no proof of similar in the Cooch Behar region. The bridge is little curved in shape,
so that the load distributes to the edges of the bridge, a arch bridge design. This increases the load capacity of the bridge many times.
The stone for the bridge were quaried from
near by Naga hills, a place called Silakuti (Xilakuti). The floor of the bridge is made of just single rock nicely and perfectly curved. Archs are built from slabs of rocks
joined with stone nails and masonary. The mortar for the masonary work was made of Bora rice, Duck eggs,
Rice chaff, lime and Black lentil.
The sculptures cut on the pillars of the bridge claims the rich art from the days of Ahom dynasty. Unfortunately these
stone artworks are in danger as yearly flood in the Namdag river eroding away the scultures.
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