There will be no fish ‘prasadam’ distribution by the Bathini Goud family for asthma patients in Hyderabad for a third consecutive year in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bathini Goud family has decided not to conduct the annual event this year too as a precautionary measure. Bathini Harinath Goud and his family members have cancelled the fish ‘prasadam’ distribution since 2020 due to the pandemic. Last year too, the second wave of COVID-19 forced them to cancel the distribution
Though the pandemic situation this year is under control, Goud said they have decided not to organise distribution as a measure of abundant precaution. Thousands of asthma patients from various parts of the country gather in Hyderabad to receive the fish ‘prasadam' (offering). While it was previously marketed as a ‘medicine’, many rationalists move court challenging its efficacy and calling it unscientific, following which it was only allowed to be labelled as a 'prasadam' and not as a medicine.
Every year, members of the Bathini Goud family administer the ‘prasadam’ on Mrigasira Karti during the first week of June, which heralds the onset of monsoon. Despite controversies and criticism from rationalists, people continued to throng the venue in the hope of finding some relief for their respiratory problems. However, the numbers have dwindled over the years.
The asthmatics gulp down a live murrel fish with a yellow herbal paste in its mouth, which is touted to provide relief if taken for three consecutive years. For vegetarians, the family gives the medicine with jaggery. The Goud family has been distributing the fish ‘prasadam' free of cost for the last 175 years. It claims that the formula for the herbal concoction was given to their ancestors in 1845 by a saint after taking an oath from him that it would be administered free of cost.
Every year, various government departments make elaborate arrangements for the annual event held in Exhibition Grounds in the heart of the city. Till two decades ago, the family used to distribute the herbal preparation at their ancestral house in Doodh Bowli in the old city. Following advice from the government, they shifted the venue for better management of the crowd.