When Dinesh Bhat, chief priest in Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy lake temple in Kumble, in the neighbouring Kasaragod district in Kerala, stepped onto the "bridge" connecting the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, there was a massive six-foot crocodile in his path.
Dinesh, accompanied by his assistant (who shot the photos), did not shout for help as he recognised the reptile. It was 'Babiya', the guardian of Ananthapura Lake Temple, who waited a few minutes and then returned to the Ananthpura pond that surrounds the temple.
The brief appearance of Babiya in the wee hours in the Muzrai temple on Tuesday, located in the northern part of Kerala, hardly created a flutter in Ananthpura village, which is about 45 kms from Mangaluru. Babiya's brief appearance, however, became a social media sensation when a photo was shared on WhatsApp.
Former Managing Trustee of the temple Sri Krishnaiah recollects having seen Babiya one rainy night move through his house (located near the temple) and head towards another lake, Ayyappa Vana. "In fact, the crocodile before Babiya used to respond to the calls of my father Narayanaiah," he recollected.
Narayanaiah had received an appreciation letter from a British Collector, for having demonstrated that the crocodile responded to his calls even from four different corners of the pond. During World War II, a British soldier had shot that crocodile. The British soldier in question died the same day from a snake bite.
"In no time, Babiya made her presence felt in the pond and is probably as old as me," said 75-year-old Krishnaiah. The offerings (naivedhya) to God, comprising cooked rice and jaggery is fed twice a day to the friendly crocodile.
Experts identified the reptile as a mugger crocodile with a natural diet in the wild consisting primarily of fish. Due to mutual respect, the pond surrounding the ninth century temple continues to be a safe haven for a fast-depleting species.
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