Babiya, Vegetarian Crocodile Dies In Kerala's Kasaragod Lake Temple
NDTV
Babiya, the male crocodile had been a major attraction for devotees at Sree Ananthapadmanabha Swamy Temple.
Babiya, a vegetarian crocodile of Kasaragod's Sri Ananthapadmanabha Swamy Temple, died on Sunday night. The 75-year-old reptile was a sight of curiosity for devotees. The male crocodile lived in the pond and consumed only the rice and jaggery offerings at the temple. Saddened to hear that Divine Crocodile Babiya which was guarding Sri Anantapura Lake Temple in #Kasaragod of Kerala is no more.!!Vegetarian Babiya lived in Temple lake for the last 70+ years by eating the Prasadam of Sri Ananthapadmanabha SwamyOm Shanti🙏 pic.twitter.com/nataU6Jlwa
Devotees offered the Prasada twice a day after the pujas at the temple. According to a report by The Hindu, it is believed that in 1945 a British soldier shot a crocodile in the temple and within days, Babiya appeared in the temple pond.
The otherwise carnivore animal was never a threat to anyone and soon received the name of a vegetarian crocodile. The crocodile was not keeping well for the past few days and was taken to veterinary surgeons from Mangaluru's Pilikula Biological Park, Udayakumar R Gatty, trustee of the temple told Manorama. He further said, "In the past two days, Babiya did not come up for food. We launched a search but could not find it. Sunday night, we saw it dead in the lake."