Hyderabad: Annual administration of ‘fish prasadam’ on the occasion of Mrigasira Karte will take place this year from 8 am on June 9 at Nampally Exhibition Grounds.
Thousands of asthma patients from various parts of the country gather in Hyderabad to receive the ‘fish prasadam’ (offering), as the medicine began to be called by the Bathini Goud family a decade ago after rationalists challenged its efficacy.
Members of the Bathini Goud family administer the ‘wonder drug’ on ‘Mrigasira Karti’, (during the first week of June) which heralds the onset of the monsoon.
The ritual will be carried out after a three-year halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic and arrangements for its smooth conductance are being ensured.
The members of Bathini Mrigasira Trust on Tuesday said that they are in coordination with the authorities of the Exhibition Grounds and other related departments involved in the drive.
State government departments including municipal, water, transport, electricity, fisheries, and police are making elaborate arrangements for the successful administration of fish Prasadam.
Despite the controversies which hit its popularity in recent years, people continue to throng the venue with hopes of finding some relief for their nagging respiratory problems.
The asthmatics gulp down a live mural fish with a yellow herbal paste in its mouth, which is believed to provide much-needed relief if taken for three consecutive years. For vegetarians, the family gives the medicine with jaggery.
The Goud family has been distributing the ‘fish medicine’ free of cost for the last 175 years. It claims that the secret formula for the herbal medicine was given to their ancestors in 1845 by a saint after taking an oath from him that it would be administered free of cost.
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