Watch Indians Flock to Swallow Live Fish to Cure Asthma
Wednesday, June 19, 2024 18:58 PM (GMT+7)
Every summer, on a day considered auspicious by astrology, people suffering from asthma and other respiratory ailments flock to the southern Indian city of Hyderabad to swallow a small live fish stuffed with heirloom herbs.
It is said that in 1845, a saint imparted the secret formula to Veeranna Goud, a man living in the old city of Hyderabad and instructed him to dispense it free of charge to asthma patients.
Since then, Mr. Goud's descendants, known as the Bathini family, have preserved the tradition and kept the herbal formula secret, sharing it only with male descendants.
To this day, the Bathini family maintains the fifth generation to continue this tradition.
Asthma patients from different parts of India rest in an open shed waiting for their turn.
The Bathini family had to call the treatment “prasadam,” which roughly translates as “an offering,” after a local organization won a lawsuit against them for describing the treatment as “medicine.”
Asthma patients gather around a seafood stall to choose live fish to use to treat their ailments.
Although the treatment is free, each fish costs 40 rupees.
Once the fish is live, each person gives it to the Bathini family members. They will squeeze a yellow herb into the fish's mouth for the patient to swallow.
It is said that fish going down the throat relieves phlegm or congestion.
A mother encouraged her daughter to open her mouth wide to swallow a live fish containing a drug she believed would cure her child's asthma.
Many people also screamed before trying to swallow the fish in the hope of curing their illness.
Patients hold small boxes filled with herbal powder to take home after being treated for asthma with fish in Hyderabad, India.
Scientists say there is no evidence of its effectiveness, and that the treatment is dangerous and unsanitary.
However, according to the organizers, thousands of people have used “prasadam” this year.
Local authorities have opened temporary housing for the event while overseeing security and sanitation.
A police officer guides people in line as they wait for their turn to receive fish therapy for asthma.
Thanh Nha (according to ANTĐ, photo AP)
Source: https://danviet.vn/xem-nguoi-an-do-do-xo-nuot-ca-song-de-chua-benh-hen-suyen-2024061918564888.htm
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