"You can get closer to them, son. It's harmless, and it's not going to strike ... It's the crocodile of God! "Sri Anandapadmanabha Swamy temple employee Chandrashekaran attempts to entice devotees.
The vegetarian prasad is made up of cooked rice and jaggery, fed by the devotees fearlessly, with their hands, to the friendly crocodile.
A sage named Divakara Muni Vilwamangalam Swamy had done penance and performed poojas here about 3,000 years ago.When Sri Vilvamangalathu Swami was engaged in deep meditation to gain the approval of his tutelary god, Sri Vishnu, Lord Krishna appeared as a young boy and started to test his devotee by playing pranks. Ruffled by the little one's mischief, Vilvamangalathu Swami would sweep him aside. The boy-Krishna had disappeared into the cave nearby by the time that sage realized his mistake. Somewhere inside the temple is the crevice into which Krishna had vanished. And, the Babiya crocodile is the guardian chosen to safeguard the enigmatic entrance.
Another story has it that a British soldier killed the crocodile on guard at Lake Temple Ananthapura about 70 years ago. Shockingly, sometime later the soldier died of snakebite, which, claims the locals, was attributed to the serpent deity Anantha's wrath for his heinous crime. Shortly after, another crocodile appeared in the lake to replace the former protector, and every time one dies, there is another!
Though it's due to a godly miracle by christians, the truth remain the same. Babiya has never attacked a person and no animal or bird has ever seen the crocodile attack. And while the question of whether or not she lives on rice alone is debatable, it is worth emphasizing the fact that she has a healthy space to stay in.