Hyderabad: Thousands of people from various parts of the country took the famous 'fish prasadam', believed to cure asthma, here on Wednesday.

The Bathini Goud family, which administers the 'fish prasadam' (murrel fish and a herbal paste), began the exercise at the Exhibition Grounds this morning and it will continue for 24 hours.

Police made elaborate arrangements to see that the event passes off peacefully and voluntary organisations also pitched in to help the patients.

The 'fish prasadam' is administered on the day of 'Mrigasira Karthe', which usually falls on June 7 or 8, the organisers said.

The family claims to be offering the 'fish prasadam' for the last 170 years. The herbal paste is stuffed inside a live murrel fish and slipped into the throat of the patient.

The formula is said to have been told to a family elder 170 years ago by a holy man. It is a said to be a closely-guarded secret within the family.

The medicinal properties of the 'fish prasadam' have often been questioned by scientists, rationalists and others, but that has not stopped people from arriving in the city in large numbers every year to receive the 'medicine'.