India is a country blessed in diversity in just about everything, including landscape and geography. The rivers, seas and other water bodies here are home to quite a few spectacular bridges that are not only architectural marvels and great engineering but also offer great views and make an amazing experience to go across. These bridges could be pedestrian bridges, road bridges, railway bridges, anything, they make a great addition to your bucket list as well as your Instagram feed. If this is your kind of adventure, read on.

1. Bandra-Worli Sea Link

This spectacular bridge with its silver cone cables gives you a great opportunity to catch the sunset on the Arabian Sea. The bridge opened in 2009 and is 5.6 km long. People say this is India’s answer to San Francisco’s Golden Gate bridge. The Bandra Worli Sea Link is the country’s longest bridge over water. The bridge lights up beautifully at night and makes for one of Mumbai’s most enthralling sites.

2. Pamban Bridge, Rameshwaram

The name literally means ‘rising above water’, and the bridge literally rises above the waters of the Indian ocean. The rail and road bridge is more than 100 years old and connects a 2 km long stretch between Rameshwaram on Pamban island and the Indian mainland. This bridge offers great views of the seascape and the islands around. It also periodically opens up to let ships, cargo carriers, fishing vessels, oil tankers, etc pass through. The bridge opened in 1914 and it was the country’s first sea bridge.

3. Kolia Bhomora Setu, Sonitpur

The plummeting waters of the Brahmaputra river are also home to the 3 km long Kolia Bhomora Setu that connects Sonitpur and Nagaon District. A drive on this bridge in this bridge in the evening is an out of the world amazing experience. The bridge is named after renowned Ahom General Kolia Bhomora Phukan.

4. Godavari Bridge, Rajahmundry

Of the three bridges built on the river Godavari, the largest river in South India, the Godavari bridge is a 4.2 km long rail and road bridge. It took long years of planning to construct this perfect engineering masterpiece. The road deck runs above the railway stretch, making the bridge appear like a two storey freeway. It is also Asia’s third largest rail-and-road bridge running across a water body.

5. Godavari Arch Bridge, Rajahmundry

One of the longest pre-stressed concrete arch bridges in India, the Godavari Arch bridge is the third link built on the Godavari river. It stands tall on 28 piers and 2.7 km long with parabolic arches, which makes it a stunning piece of architecture. The bridge plays an important role in representing Rajahmundry on the national level.

6. New Yamuna Bridge, Allahabad

The longest cable stayed bridge in India, the new Yamuna bridge is a magnificent road bridge that runs across the river Yamuna, connecting the city of Allahabad to Naini. Comprising of six lanes, including the pedestrian and bicycle lanes, the bridge is beautifully illuminated and makes a spectacular road transit link to capture in one’s camera. The river views from the bridge are also great which has made the bridge quite popular.

7. Ram Jhula and Laxman Jhula, Rishikesh

Ram Jhula and Laxman Jhula are iron suspension bridges, built across the River Ganges in Rishikesh. Ram jhula connects Sivananda Nagar of Muni ki Reti area in Tehri Garhwal district to Swargashram in Pauri Garhwal district. Ram jhula was built in 1986 and along with Laxman Jhula, is one of the iconic landmarks of Rishikesh. 2 km further upstream is the Laxman Jhula which connects two villages of Tapovan in Tehri Garhwal district to Jonk in Pauri Garhwal district. The bridges are actually pedestrian bridges but are also used by motorbikes, scooters and cycles. Laxman Jhula was completed in 1929.

8. Vidyasagar Setu, Kolkatta

Running 3.6 km over the Hooghly river, linking Kolkatta with Howrah, Vidyasagar Setu is the longest cable stayed bridge in India, as well as in Asia. It has nine traffic lanes allowing about 30000 vehicles to traverse through it each day. It is one of the several bridges built on Hooghly river and is often called the second Hooghly bridge.

9. Nivedita Setu, Kolkatta

Designed to withstand 48000 vehicles everyday, Nivedita Setu is a cable stayed bridge built over Hooghly in Kolkatta. The bridge stretches up to a kilometre and comprises of seven spans, helping in the easy movement of traffic in Kolkatta. Opened in 1932, the bridge is named after Sister Nivedita, the social worker disciple of Swami Vivekananda.

10. Howrah Bridge

One of the most recognised landmarks of Kolkatta, the Howrah Bridge is an engineering wonder that carries more than 100000 vehicles and over 150000 pedestrians each day. Constructed on the waters of the Hooghly River, the bridge was built without any nuts or bolts. Its official name is Rabindra Setu. The bride is undoutedly an architectural marvel and stands tall on 26500 tons of steel riveted strongly to form a distinct shape.

11. Vembanad Bridge, Kochi

The Vembanad Bridge overlooking the beautiful backwaters of Kerala is India’s longest rail bridge connecting Edapally and Vallarpadam. Spanning over 4.6 km, the bridge is earmarked only for trains carrying freight. It is built using 11700 tons of reinforced steel and 58000 tons of cement. The bridge sees about 15 trains each day on an average.

12. Living Root Bridges, Meghalaya

The living root bridges in Meghalaya are made by intertwining the aerial living roots of banyan trees. They are hand crafted by the members of the Khasi tribe of Meghalaya and used for crossing streams and gorges. Of these, the double decker suspension bridge, Jinkieng Nongriat in Nongriat village is very popular among the travellers. The bridges are extraordinarily strong and can withstand the weight of up to 50 people at a time. With time, these bridges become even more durable.