Temple 'guard' crocodile comes to visit deity, leaves after priest's request

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 22: Babiya, the giant crocodile, who lives in the pond of the temple known as the temple guard for years, has made a surprise visit to the premises of Sri Ananthapadmanabha Swamy Temple in north Kerala's Kasaragod on Tuesday.

"The crocodile spent some time there and went back after chief priest Chandraprakash Nambisan asked it go to its permanent habitat - the temple pond," temple official Chandrasekharan said.

The divine crocodile is believed to be vegetarian, who only eats the temple prasad which is made of rice and jaggery and does not harm anyone, including the fish in the lake.

It is being said that the crocodile has been living in the Ananthapura Lake Temple for 73 years and guard the temple. In 1945, a British soldier fired crocodile which lived in the village pond. The soldier died instantly from snakebite and on the very next day Babiya appeared here. But nobody has any idea how the crocodile came to the temple pond and who named it.

The priests said that this was Babiya's first entry into the temple.

Babiya feeds on temple prasad which is offered after the worship of the deity. She comes out out of the pond when the priest calls it.

Photos of Babiya inside the temple's premises are being widely circulated on social media.

Netizen said Babiya came inside the temple to meet Lord Vishnu.

The temple is situated in a small village called Ananthapura and many devotees after praying at the temple offer prayers before the lake also. The temple is known as the moolasthanm (original source) of Sree Padmanabhaswami Temple in Thiruvananthapuram.

Devotees believe Babiya is a 'messenger' of Lord Padmanabha, Lord Vishnu.