The story
Tongue Piercing Jatra Bode in Bode
The Bode tongue-piercing jatra is a new year vow-fulfillment ritual in which a local volunteer, having pledged a manat, a religious vow, to Bhairav, has his tongue pierced with a thin metal skewer and then processes through the town, believed to protect Bode from misfortune in the coming year.
Across South Asia, vow-based devotional practices, in which a worshipper promises a deity a specific act of austerity or sacrifice in exchange for a wish granted, take many forms, from simple fasting to more physically demanding rites.