‘Fish prasadam’ event at Hyderabad’s Nampally sees significant turnout from across India

Fish prasadam is a small live murrel fish stuffed with herbal paste and it is believed to possess medicinal properties capable of alleviating respiratory ailments.

Hyderabad: The annual Fish prasadam distribution at the Exhibition Grounds, Nampally, this year saw a significant turnout, with thousands of people from various parts of India and even abroad gathering to receive the prasadam on Saturday.

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Fish prasadam is a small live murrel fish stuffed with herbal paste and it is believed to possess medicinal properties capable of alleviating respiratory ailments.

Attendees shared their experiences and hopes and Mahesh Gupta, who came from Maharashtra said, “I have been coming here for three years, and I feel my condition has improved significantly.” Rajeev Kumar from Tamil Nadu added, “Despite the skepticism, my faith in the healing power of the prasadam keeps me coming back every year”.

The event is supported by various government departments to ensure smooth operations. Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar flagged off the distribution today morning and said people have immense faith in the fish prasadam being administered by the Bathini family for several decades.

Earlier, B. Amarnath Goud of the Bathini family said, “The fish prasadam will be administered on Mrigasira Karti day. This year, we expect around seven lakh people.”

The fish prasadam is given free of cost to asthma patients. In 2023, after the gap of two year since Covid-19, about two lakh people were administered the prasadam. This year, the organisers are expecting an increase in the number. Meanwhile, the family members had prepared about 500 kg of prasadam.

The State Fisheries department authorities have set up 16 token sales counters and 35 fish counters, while 65 employees from the department have been monitoring the prasadam distribution.

With each fish seed costing Rs 40, the counters will have shifts, whose timings will be from 8 am to 12 noon; 12 noon to 6pm and 6 pm to midnight and midnight till end of the event.

Thousands of people from different parts of the country reached the venue on Thursday itself. On Friday morning, the ‘Bavi puja’ (the well from which the water is drawn to mix the medicine) was performed by the Bathini family at their ancestral home in Doodbowli. They have been into this humanitarian service for the last 174 years.