Kerala: 'Vegetarian' crocodile that lived in temple pond dies, hundreds pay homage
India's vegetarian croc dies
The Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy temple in the southern Indian state of Kerala is well-known among devotees for two reasons - it is the only Lake temple in Kerala and that its Lake is guarded by a 'vegetarian' mugger crocodile. It is believed that the crocodile has been living in the temple pond for nearly 75 years. The temple caretakers fed the croc their holy offerings twice a day and this sight attracted devotees from far and wide. 'Babiya' was found dead in the temple lake on Sunday night.
Folklore has it that a single crocodile has been guarding the temple lake for several years and 'Babiya' is the third in that lineage. It is said that a new crocodile appears in the lake, shortly after the demise of the one guarding the temple. According to those at the temple, this unexplained phenomenon happens despite the fact that there are no crocodiles in any of the nearby lakes or rivers.
Legend has it that the crocodile guards the cave that the Lord Vishnu(the presiding deity at the temple) had vanished into, thousands of years ago. The Lake temple or Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy Temple in northern Kerala's Kasaragod district is known as the 'moolasthanam' or original source of the Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, at the southern end of Kerala.
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According to reports, temple priests used to take holy dips in the temple lake where the croc resided and yet were never harmed by the mugger. It is also believed that the crocodile only survived off the vegetarian holy offering and the offerings fed by devotees, and did not harm or consume the fish in the lake. This earned the Crocodile the moniker of 'God's Own Crocodile' and 'Vegetarian Crocodile'.
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In recent years, pictures of the croc having entered the temple premises had gone viral on social media. Despite having entered the temple numerous times, there has never been an instance of the croc having harmed anyone there.
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