Having pierced his tongue for the seventh time at Bisket Jatra last year, Jujubhai Bansa Shrestha had announced that he was performing the ritual for the last time. 

Well hardly! The 37-year-old is coming out of retirement to keep the tradition afloat after no one came forward to pick up the baton.  

On the second day of Nepali New Year, Shrestha will go round Bode—a sleepy little town of Newar community—with his tongue pierced with 10-inch metal skewer, with thousands descending on this sleepy little Newar town to observe the colourful festival. The festival is celebrated to mark the victory of  the Lichhchavis over the Kirat kings in the medieval period.

Cultural expert Om Dhaubhadel says there is a strong belief that this ritual wards off evil spirits, and saves the inhabitants of Bode from natural calamities and  like earthquake, severe drought. “This is a festival unique to Bode; having its historical and cultural significance it has to be preserved,” says Dhaubhadel. 

 Legend has it that a magician named Ashaju captured the demon, and paraded him around the town with his tongue pierced in punishment. The ritual is believed to have been repeated every year since. In fact, Shrestha is the 20th person to have volunteered for the task. He succeeded Buddhi Krishna Baga who pierced his tongue four times until Shrestha took over.  

Shrestha, who has been a central figure of the annual festival, says he has made up his mind to take up the task. He said the main reason behind giving continuity to the festival, to honor the task of his grandfather Harka Narsingh Basan, who had pierced his tongue an astonishing 22 times. 

Purna Keshari, Jujubhai’s wife, says she feels pain even watching a metal rod being inserted through her husband’s tongue. 

“But it’s also a matter of pride. My husband is the one who is taking this tradition forward,” she says. 

Anyone from the devout Newar community in Bode can take up the task. But when no one else turned up, Shrestha came forward again to give continuity to this centuries-old ritual. “I won’t let it die until I am alive,” he says.