Hyderabad, June 9 -- It is six-year-old Vraj's first time attending the famous fish prasadam at Exhibition Grounds in Nampally, Hyderabad.

A live murrel fish containing a yellow herbal paste was carefully slipped into the little boy's throat, an experience he had not anticipated, but one he handled well. "I was hesitant at first, but I feel better now," he told Siasat.com.

The two-day fish prasadam is held every year on Mrigasira Karthi, the first day of the monsoons according to the Hindu calendar, administered by Hyderabad's Bathini family since 1845. Centuries-old traditional medicine, it provides relief from asthma and other respiratory ailments.

Vraj is one of the thousands of devotees who turned up for the annual fish prasadam. W...