Kasaragod, India - Hundreds of people in India paid their respects to a crocodile they believe was divine.

The reptile, named Babia, was revered for reportedly living on a purely vegetarian diet for decades and was said to have guarded a Hindu temple. It was considered peaceful and never attacked other animals or humans.

Monday morning, Babia was found floating lifeless in the lake it had lived in for nearly 80 years. It had reportedly stopped eating a few days prior.

The crocodile was associated with the Sri Ananthapadmanabha Swamy temple in Kasaragod in the southern state of Kerala, known for its elaborate sculptures, a temple secretary Ramachandran Bhat told AFP news agency.

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At the funeral, the scaly body was decorated with flowers and blessed before being carried on a bed of coconut leaves on a palanquin through the crowd of mourners and buried on the temple grounds.

Dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu, the temple is around 3,000 years old and has been protected by a single "divine" crocodile for centuries, according to Bhat.

"The last divine crocodile was shot by the British military in 1940, and after that Babia appeared in the lake," Bhat insisted, adding no one could say where it had come from.

According to believers, Babia subsisted on "prasadam," a portion of rice and sugar blessed by temple priests. Bhat, however, doesn't think that was the only menu available, since "there are fish in the lake."