Jubilant Jatra (Photo feature)

Published On: April 15, 2018 06:16 PM NPT By: Dipendra Rokka

Photo by: Dipendra Rokka

BHAKTAPUR, April 15: The locals of Bhaktapur celebrated annual Sindoor Jatra or the festival of vermilion. The festival is celebrated to welcome the spring.

On the third day of the 10-day Bisket Jatra, male representatives from various quarters of Thimi and from the surrounding villages in Bhaktapur bring out a procession of 32 palanquins called khats with images of different gods.

The participants throw vermillion powder to each other and play various traditional music and dance. They carry chariot of various deities around town while playing colors during the festival.

Likewise, Buddha Krishna Bagha Shrestha has pierced his tongue for the consecutive sixth time in front of a huge crowd of participants observing Bisket Jatra at Bode in Madhyapur Thimi Municipality on Sunday. Buddha Krishna, a local of Bode, got his tongue pierced at Bode Higher Secondary School near Layaku Chowk amid a rapturous applause today.

The tongue should not bleed. It is believed that if the tongue bleeds while piercing, it is taken as an indication that something bad would happen.

As per the tradition, only a male person belonging to the Shrestha lineage and native of Bode is required to get his tongue pierced as part of the tongue-piercing ritual.

Here are the glimpses of both event captured during the celebration