Babia, the 'Vegetarian' crocodile of Kerala's Sri Ananthapadmanabha Swamy Temple, dead

A decades-old lone crocodile, claimed to be a vegetarian, who lived in the lake at the Sri Ananthapadmanabha Swamy temple, was frequently seen roaming inside the premises and was discovered dead late on Sunday night.

While talking to PTI, the temple officials said the crocodile, affectionately known as Babia, has been missing since Saturday. Following that, the carcass was discovered floating on the lake around 11:30 pm on Sunday night and was reported to the police and the animal husbandry department, according to temple officials.

The carcass was removed from the lake and placed on public display Monday as hundreds of people, including politicians, showed up for a last glimpse. Temple officials claimed the crocodile was a vegetarian who only ate 'prasadam.'

Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, Shobha Karandlaje, expressed hope that the "God's own crocodile," which has lived at the temple for over 70 years, will achieve 'sadgati,' or salvation.

"Babiya, the God's crocodile from the Sri Anantapura Lake temple, has arrived at Vishnu Padam. The divine crocodile guarded the temple and lived in the temple's lake for over 70 years by eating Sri Ananthapadmanabha Swamy's rice and jaggery prasadam. Om Shanti, may she achieve Sadgati!" she Tweeted.

The BJP state president K Surendran also paid tribute to the crocodile. "Babiya has left. She was a constant presence at the Kumbla Ananthapuram Mahavishnu temple for decades. Millions of devotees flocked to see it, believing it to be the image of God. Pranamam," he stated.

The Mahavishnu temple is located in the northern Kerala district of Kasaragod, near Ananthapura. According to its website, the temple is known as the 'moolasthanam,' or original source, of the Thiruvananthapuram Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy temple.

According to the temple's website, a "very unusual phenomenon" was the presence of a single crocodile named 'Babia' in the temple lake.

"According to legend, the lake is home to a single crocodile, and the current crocodile is the third one that the elderly men have seen. When one crocodile dies, another appears in the lake, which remains an unexplained phenomenon," according to the website.

"There are no crocodiles in the nearby rivers or ponds. The crocodile is docile and harmless to humans. Its presence in the lake surrounding the Mahavishnu temple recalls one of the Bhagavatha Puranam's well-known Gajendra Moksha stories," it added.

(With inputs from PTI)

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• Babia crocodile
• Sri Anantapura Lake