Babiya the guardian crocodile of Ananthapura Lake temple, Kasargod

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We went to Kasargod two years ago on a vacation, and saw the beautiful Ananthapadmanabhaswamy temple en route to Bekal Fort. It was in the monsoons, and Kerala was like a green shining jewel in the rains. The temple is built in the middle of a lake, a small bridge connecting it. There is a cave through which, according to legend, lord Anantha Padmanabha made a way towards Thiruvananthapuram. From the temple, we looked at the fishes in the clear green water under us.  While the temple and its precincts and the scenery around it are lovely, the most interesting thing about it is a crocodile named  Babiya , claimed to be a vegetarian crocodile who guards the temple and apparently loves the Rice and Jaggery Naivedyam that they feed her twice a day.

The priest was very excited to talk about Babiya. He claims it is a divine crocodile who guards the cave and the temple . According to him, every time a crocodile dies, another one appears to take its place. He also claims that the crocodile never harms fish or human beings in the temple precincts and has a pure vegetarian diet. He told us a little far fetched story of how Babiya crawls towards the temple from the other side of the pond, through the steps and slips into the lake in time for her afternoon prasadam!

He took us along to the pond, to see the crocodile. It is considered lucky if you spot her and spot her we did. The priest stepped into the water and called out to her - " Babiya baramma" and went closer to her ( In Kasargod, most people know to speak both Malayalam and Kannada) . We kept a safe distance. Though tranquil and quiet as she floated in the pond and gazed at us, I found her a bit sneaky. I don't know how much of the story is believable. But I do hope Babiya doesn't have diabetes and other lifestyle diseases that comes with a refined Carb diet :D







Location: Kasaragod, Kerala, India

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