Bhaktapur, April 14:

Locals in Madhyapur Thimi today observed the ‘tongue-piercing festival’ on the occasion of Bisket jatra with Buddha Krishna Baga Shrestha piercing his tongue for the fourth consecutive year.

Before the tongue piercing event, locals celebrated ‘Sindhure Jatra’ — a festival similar to holi — at Laiku in Madhyapur Thimi-1. According to the tradition, one person having Shrestha surname from Thimi Municipality has to pierce his tongue observing fast for two days before the tongue-piercing day.

Shrestha, who pierced his tongue with a six inch-long thick needle, told this daily today: “As no one agreed to take part in the tongue-piercing event, I decided to do it for the fourth year in order to give continuity to our culture and tradition.”

Also today, a big feast was organised in Bode, Thimi, to celebrate the festival. Ganesh Bahadur Pa, 70, of Bode said that the crowd has doubled this year. He said: “Thousands of people arrived here to enjoy the festival.”

Not only the Newar community, the Chhetri community living near Bode also enjoyed the festival, Dhruba Poudel, a resident of Bode, said.