‘Vegetarian’ crocodile dies after 70 years as a divine guardian in India, temple says
A famous crocodile died after guarding a Hindu temple in India for decades, according to temple authorities.
The crocodile — named Babiya, also spelled Babia — was the lone guardian of a temple in Kasaragod, a city in the southern Indian state of Kerala, the Times News Network reported. The crocodile was considered divine and vegetarian, living entirely on a diet of boiled rice offered by temple priests twice a day, temple officials told the outlet.
The temple, dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu, is about 3,000 years old and has had a crocodile guardian for years, temple officials told AFP.
Babiya appeared in the pond beside the temple sometime in the 1940s, the Times News Network reported. No one knows exactly where Babiya came from, but, according to temple legend, it showed up shortly after a British soldier shot and killed the temple’s previous guardian, AFP reported.
Many people visited the temple to see Babiya, who, temple officials say, never attacked a human or animal, AFP reported. Children would touch the reptile for its blessing without being harmed, the outlet reported.
After nearly 80 years guarding the temple, officials found the crocodile dead in the pond on Sunday, Oct. 9, the Express News Service reported. Its death is thought to be due to age-related illness, the Times News Network reported.
The temple held a funeral for the crocodile on Monday, placing the scaly corpse in a mobile freezer to allow mourners to pay their respects, the Express News Service reported.
Hundreds attended the funeral, photos show, draping the crocodile’s coffin with flowers. The guardian was buried on the temple grounds, the Times News Network reported.
Kasaragod is about 570 miles south of Mumbai.
