Viral Photo: On Sunday, the well-known “vegetarian” crocodile Babiya of Kasaragod, Kerala’s Sri Anandapadmanabha Swamy temple passed away. One of the main attractions for the pilgrims that came to the shrine was Babiya, the 75-year-old crocodile.
The “divine” crocodile allegedly spent most of her time in the cave and only emerged in the afternoon, according to the temple priests. The crocodile was said to have kept watch over the cave where the Lord had disappeared, in accordance with local legend.
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The crocodile was only fed the temple gifts that were given to her twice daily, according to the temple administrators. The only food the male crocodile ate while it was a resident of the pond was the rice and jaggery sacrifices made at the temple. After the temple’s pujas, devotees offered the Prasada twice daily. As per the sources, it is believed that a British soldier shot a crocodile in the temple in 1945, and a few days later Babiya showed up in the temple pond.
Nobody knew from where “Babiya” came
The normally carnivorous animal rapidly earned the nickname “vegetarian crocodile” since it never posed a threat to anyone. According to Udayakumar R Gatty, trustee of the temple, the crocodile had not been feeling well for a few days and had been sent to veterinarians at Mangaluru’s Pilikula Biological Park.
The temple will bury Babiya in the temple grounds to honour the crocodile.
Babiya could go everywhere in the temple and would often be in the lake nearby or relax on the temple steps. Babiya spent the summer months at Vana Shastara, a laterite cattle pond 60 metres distant in the temple grounds. Nobody knew how Babiya got to the pond, and for many years, temple worshipers believed that Babiya was Lord Padmanabhan’s personal messenger.
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