Highlights
- Babiya performing ‘Darshanam’ in front of the shrine got a lot of publicity including on social media when it came out on one such occasion and it was pictured by the devotees.
- The temple has no records that indicate how the large reptile reached its pond when there is no river or other water body in the vicinity.
- The crocodile which attracted several devotees and visitors was found dead in the temple lake on Sunday night. It had been living in the temple’s pond and was believed to be 75 years old.
Babiya, the vegetarian crocodile, which appeared before the devotees and blessed them by taking their offerings at Ananthapura lake temple in Majeshwaram taluk of Kasaragod district, is no more.
Sight of curiosity by devotees
The crocodile which attracted several devotees and visitors was found dead in the temple lake on Sunday night. It had been living in the temple’s pond and was believed to be 75 years old.
Hundreds of devotees paid homage to the crocodile when its body was placed in a mobile freezer on the premises of the Sree Ananthapadmanabha Swamy Temple at Kumbla on Monday.
Was offered ‘prasadam’ as food
The crocodile, which lived in the pond by eating only the rice and jaggery offerings at the temple. Babiya was offered the prasadam (offering) twice a day after the pujas at the temple. The creature was never known to have turned violent or attacked devotees.
The temple has no records that indicate how the large reptile reached its pond when there is no river or other water body in the vicinity. Temple lore says a British soldier had shot a crocodile at the shrine in 1945 and within a few days another crocodile, later named Babiya, emerged.
It performed ‘darshanam’ as well
From time to time the crocodile comes ashore from its burrow in the lake and approached the shrine. Two years ago, the crocodile made its way to the steps of the temple’s sanctum sanctorum. Babiya performing ‘Darshanam’ in front of the shrine got a lot of publicity including on social media when it came out on one such occasion and it was pictured by the devotees.
Babiya was not keeping well for the past few days and was attended to by veterinary surgeons from Mangaluru’s Pilikula Biological Park, said Udayakumar R Gatty, trustee of the temple.
