A 'sacred' crocodile which died in a temple pond it lived in for 70 years has been frozen so mourners can pay their respects.
Babiya the 'vegetarian' crocodile attained a divine status by scoffing offerings of rice and jaggery at Sree Ananthapadmanabha Swamy Temple at Kumbla in Kasaragod district, Kerala, India.
On Sunday night the reptile was found lifeless in the shrine's pond and was taken by temple staff who kept it in a mobile freezer to delay Babiya's corpse rotting until mourners had a chance to say their farewells.
READ MORE: Humans once had spiky penises and animal with four-headed pecker still has it
Temple trust board chairman Udaya Kumar said: “We had the rituals and prayers associated with the burial of a Hindu swamiji. The body was lowered to the pit near the temple. In future, devotees can come and pray at the ‘samadhi’.’’
Udaya admitted that Babiya probably snacked on meat here and there but the croc's hunger for rice was enough to win them over.
“We don’t claim that the crocodile was fully vegetarian. However, it used to consume the offerings of the temple,’’ he said.
Union Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Shoba Karandlaje took to Twitter to share her condolences.
She wrote: “Babiya, the God’s own crocodile of Sri Ananthapura Lake temple has reached Vishnu Padam. The divine crocodile lived in the temple’s lake for over 70 years by eating the rice & jaggery prasadam of Sri Ananthapadmanabha Swamy & guarded the temple.’’
Unlike countless horror stories shared around the world of terrifying human encounters with crocodiles, never did Babiya show signs of aggression to worshippers.
For more incredible stories from the Daily Star, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here
It is unknown as to how the reptile made it to the temple pond given the fact that it is far from any other body of water.
According to temple lore, a British soldier once shot a crocodile at the shrine in 1945 and Babiya appeared within just a few days yet no such explanation was given for its name.
An alternative story is that temple bosses raised the crocodile to guard the site's wealth of valuables from thieves.
READ NEXT:
Serial seagull killer jailed after impaling chick on fence and lobbing bird to its death
Twisted 'Cat killer' on rampage with deadly poison as 13 pets die in same town
Frozen Planet II captures world first as rare big cats cover each other's tracks
Source: Read Full Article
