Crowds flock to an Indian city for a “miracle cure” for asthma (6 photos)

Every summer, on a day considered auspicious by astrologers, sufferers of asthma and other respiratory diseases come to the city of Hyderabad to swallow live fish containing medicinal medicine. According to legend, in 1845 the saint gave the secret formula of the herbal medicine to Viranna Good and ordered it to be distributed free of charge to the sick.





Since then, Goode's descendants, known as the Batini family, have kept the composition of the medicine a secret.

“My great-great-grandfather, Viranna Goode, passed this secret formula on to his sons, and they passed it on to their sons, and now we are the fifth generation to carry on this tradition,” shares Kakarna Alkananda.

They say the fish gets into the throat and gets rid of phlegm.



“My mother has been taking this drug for seven years and she has felt much better. She can breathe easier and has fewer attacks,” says Aash Mohammed, who traveled with his family by train from the Indian capital New Delhi.





The Bathini family is forced to call their method "prasadam", which roughly translates to "offering", because the court did not recognize it as "drug therapy".

Nevertheless, the practice is in demand, despite the objections of doctors.



The procedure requires an Asian snakehead, a small fish worth 40 rupees. A yellow paste is placed in her mouth, and then the patient is helped to swallow the live drug.



Local authorities monitor safety and sanitary measures. According to the organizers, thousands of people took "prasadam" this year.