Vegetarian temple crocodile in Kerala dies; was 7 plus decades old

Kasaragod/Kerala: A crocodile, which was called Babiya and a vegetarian, lived in a temple pond of Kerala's Kasargod district and died on Sunday. It lived in the pond for more than seven decades, The Indian Express reported.

The mortal remains of the amphibian were placed in a mobile freezer within the premises of the Sree Ananthapadmanabha Swamy Temple at Kumbla on Monday, and hundreds of devotees paid homage.

The crocodile used to live in the pond eating only the rice and jaggery offering in the temple. It remained a major attraction for devotees, who believed the otherwise carnivore divine. It was served 'prasadam' (offering) twice a day after the temple pujas. It was said never to have turned violent or attacked people. It entered the temple's sanctum sanctorum two years ago.

There are no authentic records on how the crocodile reached the temple, but a lore is that a British soldier shot a crocodile at the temple in 1945, and a few days later, Babiya appeared.

Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje extended her condolences to Babiya on Twitter. "Baby, the god's own crocodile of Sri Ananthapura Lake temple has reached Vishnu Padam. The divine crocodile lived in the temple's lake for over 70 years by eating the rice & jaggery prasadam of Sri Ananthapadmanabha Swamy & guarded the temple," TIE quoted the minister.

As per beliefs, Sri Ananthapadmanabha Swamy temple is the original seat of Padmanabha (Vishnu), the deity of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala's capital city.