Tataka is a yakshi turned man-eating demoness by Agastya's curse. She is the first enemy Rama kills, at Vishwamitra's urging, in the forest on the way to Siddhashrama.
RoleRakshasa
ConsortSunda
ParentsMaricha, Subahu (rakshasa), Suketu
Appears inRamayana
GroupRakshasas
KingdomOther kingdoms
Who was Tataka?
Born to the yaksha Suketu with the strength of a thousand elephants, Tataka married Sunda and bore Maricha. When Agastya killed Sunda, she and her son attacked the sage, who cursed them to become rakshasas.
She laid waste a once prosperous land. Vishwamitra tells Rama that killing a woman who destroys the innocent is no sin, and Rama, after first only wounding her, kills her with an arrow.
In the Valmiki Ramayana
Tataka appears in 3 sargas across 1 Kandas.
First appearsBala Kanda · Sarga 24: Into the Forest of Tataka
Tataka's family
Often seen with Tataka
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