Juju Bhai Basan Shrestha - The tongue piercing jatra

The town of Thimi, which lies adjacent to Bhatakpur, enjoyed the day with its ceremony at Bode village. The ritual of tongue piercing is believed to reserve a special seat in heaven for the persons participating at the tongue-piercing festival. Krishna Chandra Basan Shrestha had pierced the tongue of his successor Juju Bhai Basan Shrestha this time at Layakutole near the Pachu Gansesh temple’s inn in the mid-day. After the tongue was pierced by a 10-inch long and 3 line thick iron needle, Shrestha visited different toles of Bode for two to three hours carrying a crescent shape Mahadeep which is made by using 13 sticks of Nigalo ( a type of nettle). The chariot pulling activity was stopped in Bhagutole after taking a round of several localities ending the tongue piercing festival. After that the iron needle took out in the Mahalaxmi temple and the hole in the tongue was filled up with the mud from Mahalaxmi temple and the needle was kept at the Ganesh Temple door, which is located at the right side of the Nrityanath temple. With the spike lodged in his tongue, the Bhaktapur youth performed puja in all local temples before taking the spike out in front of the Pancho Ganesh temple. He later applied sacred soil in the tongue as part of rituals, which, according to legends, date back to the Lichchhavi era. One who pierces the tongue is also responsible to organize a feast in the village at the end of the day to celebrate the success.

Juju Bhai, a graduate of Lalit Kala Campus in Lalitpur, teaches at a school in Bhaktapur. He has been piercing his tongue for the festival since 2009.

According to the Legends, tongue-piercing signifies the conquest over demons and evil spirits, who were haunting communities, taking away their children and killing them. A tongue piercer should fast for three days beginning from the last day of the Nepali month of Chaitra. The ritual ends with tongue piercin in Sindor jatra which is a part of Bisket Jatra.

The tongue piercing event is one of the main attractions of the Jatra. Many people visited Bode Village to observe tongue piercing.