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Regular-article-logo Monday, 19 May 2025

Science scanner on fish cure

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G.S. RADHAKRISHNA Published 08.06.04, 12:00 AM

Hyderabad, June 8: Samples of the popular “chapa mandu” miracle medicine administered in a tiny fish were collected today on the order of Andhra Pradesh High Court for scientific testing.

The court directed state advocate-general Sudharshan Reddy to collect samples and send it to the government laboratory for testing following a petition by the Rationalists’ Association of Hyderabad.

The petition was filed because the Bathini brothers, keepers of the medicine’s secret recipe, went ahead with the annual distribution of the drug, alleged to cure asthma and bronchitis, from the early hours today ignoring rationalists’ doubts on its healing qualities.

The “chapa mandu” is a yellow paste with a base of turmeric and containing other secret components prepared by Bathini brothers of Dood Bowli in the old city.

It is administered free to patients throughout this day (depending on a specific conjunction of stars) in June every year by putting it in the mouth of a small murel fish and making the patients swallow it live.

Over the years, business has thrived around the annual ritual as thousands of believers come from across the country, and even abroad, seeking relief from the chronic aliments.

By evening, almost one lakh people had consumed “chapa mandu” at the Exhibition Grounds of the city.

Commenting on the uproar, Harinath Gowd, the brother who leads the operation, said: “This is not the first time. They (the rationalists) have been creating tension for many years. We do not give samples just to contain quacks from making duplicates fast and making money. We distribute it free of cost. The patient has to bring only the fish.”

The miracle drug has spawned several imitations across the country, including a “vegetarian” version in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. But the brothers claim it must be taken with live fish only.

“We can guarantee its effective functioning only if taken with fish,” said Gowd.

The components of the medicine are a secret and have not been allowed to be tested till now.

“The medicine is a well-guarded secret given to our grandfather three decades ago and has been passed down in family since. In my family, my mother knows the components,” Gowd said.

The family first attracted controversy when it sought land from the government to set up an academy to popularise the ayurvedic study of turmeric. “Our medicine is 70 per cent turmeric and 30 per cent other ingredients,” Gowd claimed.

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