Bisket Jatra
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Bisket Jatra is a nine-day festival coinciding with the Nepali New year. It takes place in the medieval town of Bhaktapur. The festival has been immensely popular since the Lichhavi period.
Since the Bisket begins in the last days of the Nepalese year and ends in the beginning days of the New Year it is regarded as the New year festival as well. During the seven days of the festival chariots of God Bhairava and Goddess Bhadrakali are pulled with lot of merriment within the town limits. At a place called Lyasinkhel, a lyasin or a tall pole is erected with two long embroidered cloths hanging from it. These cloths represent two evil serpents who in the past had troubled the royal family by mysteriously killing every suitor to the princess at night. Ultimately a brave prince with the blessings of Goddess Bhadrakali came along and killed them even as they appeared from the nostrils of the sleeping princess and began to enlarge themselves. Thus, to show the townspeople the cause of previous suitors’ death they were hung from the pole and at present the cloths represent them.
The festival used to be called “Bisyau” jatra, which means the festival celebrated in the memory of slaying of serpents. In the passage of time the term changed from ‘Bisyau’ to Bisket Jatra.
In Madhyapur Thimi and Bode, as part of Bisket Jatra or maybe a variation of this festival called Sindoor Jatra is observed. This festival is celebrated by youths participating in a parade carrying god’s images and smearing vermilion powder to each other.
Tongue piercing tradition
Juju Bhai Basha pierced his tongue for the consecutive third year amid a religious function organised on the sixth day of this year’s Bisket Jatra in Bhaktapur on Friday (April 15, 2011).
Juju Bhai, 30, who was fasting from the third day of the festival seemed calm when he got his tongue pierced by a blacksmith with one feet long sharp iron spike on the premises of Pancho Ganesh temple in Bode, where the festival is observed.
In the beginning of the ceremony, the blacksmith prayed to all the deities and penetrated the spike that was purified by dipping in mustard oil a few days ago. Juju Bhai worshipped at all the local shrines holding the long needle in his tongue.
Finally, he took out the spike in front of Pancho Ganesh and put the holy soil in the pierced tongue. According to the tradition, the tongue-piercing person has to organise a feast for the villagers in the end of the day.
