Rama Killing Tataka

When Rama and Lakshmana were still young boys, under the tutorship of Vishvamitra, they entered a dark forest where a rakshasa woman (a rakshasi) was spreading terror and death.  She was Tataka, mother of Maricha, stronger than a thousand elephants, who could change her form at will.

After being ordered by the sage Vishvamita to kill her, Rama promised also to cut off her ears and nose.  While Rama was speaking, however, Tataka attacked him, creating confusion with her magic tricks.  Rama cut off both her hands, and Lakshmana her nose and ears; but since the monster was still fighting, Rama had to kill her with a single shaft in the heart.

The Ramayana describes the climax of this tale as follows:

Rama grasped his bow, and, twanging the string, filled the cardinal points with sound and with a single shaft pierced the heart of the rakshasi, who fell to the ground and expired.  Rama was praised by Indra.

Figure 1.  Rama Killing Tataka, Baphuon Temple, Angkor, Cambodia
The story is suggested in a small scene on the eastern gopura II at Baphuon Temple, where Rama is shown shooting an arrow straight into the head of the ugly Tataka, who has pendulous breasts.
You can see a larger version of this image by clicking here. ^⧉

In Khmer iconography, Rama kills Tataka with an arrow through the head, and not the heart, as we see in the representation at Baphuon Temple shown in Figure 1.

This was Rama’s first killing, a rite of passage after which Indra and the celestial beings, filled with joy, asked Vishvamitra to give Rama and Lakshmana the most powerful weapons of the gods, weapons that they used with great efficiency to destroy the demons in the conclusive ‘Battle of Lanka’.

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Please also see:

• The Legend of Rama in My Journal
• Images of The Ramayana at Angkor, Cambodia ^⧉
• Images of Baphuon Temple, Angkor, Cambodia ^⧉