Fish prasadam distribution arrangements at the Nampally Exhibition Ground. —Photo: Surya Sridhar
Hyderabad: A day before the Mrigasira Karthi, scores of people from different parts of the country have started to arrive at the Exhibition Grounds, Nampally, where the Bathini Goud family is slated to commence administration of the fish prasadam on Sunday at 10 am.
Elaborate arrangements, including barricades, water and power supply, medical camps, ambulances, and fire department services, have been made at the venue. The Telangana Fisheries Department has kept ready over 1.5 lakh murrel for fish prasadam distribution.
“On Saturday, eight to ten counters opened and tokens issued to those who already arrived. Another eight counters will be opened on Sunday,” Assistant Director of the Telangana Fisheries Department, T Srinivas, told ‘Telangana Today’.
For the distribution of live murrel fish (fingerlings), 35 counters will be opened from 3 am onwards on Sunday. “We will supply additional quantities of fish based on the demand,” he said. The cost per murrel is Rs 40, and on collecting the fish, people can join the queue, where the Bathini families administer the prasadam.
TGSRTC is running special buses to the venue from key destinations, including Secunderabad, Kacheguda, Nampally railway stations, JBS, and MGBS, and also from all corners of Greater Hyderabad.
As part of the annual event, the Bathini Goud family has been administering the fish prasadam made of herbs free of cost to lakhs of patients and those suffering from respiratory ailments. After performing a special puja at the ancestral house of Bathini at Doodbowli, the prasadam is brought to the venue.
The Bathini family has kept the formula secret, which has been used to prepare the fish prasadam for the past 165 years, and the present generations continue the legacy.