Cursed to be a rakshasa along with his mother Tataka and brother Subahu, Maricha initially led his life terrorizing sages.

Ultimately, Maricha assumed the form of a golden deer and helped Ravana kidnap Sita.

When Tataka learned of Sunda's death, she and her sons attacked Agastya to wreak vengeance on the sage.

The sage cursed Tataka, Maricha and Subahu, transforming them into wicked, hideous, demonic Rakshasas.

Ravana helped the trio capture the states of Malada and Karusha, situated on the banks of the river Sarayu near its confluence with the Ganges.

The gods, demons and men, as well as even the sun and the clouds did not dare to enter the territory of Tataka and her sons.

The brothers threw blood, flesh, and bones on the sacrificial altars and destroyed the sanctity of the sacrifices of the sages.

Unable to tolerate the menace any longer, Vishvamitra approached Dasharatha, the King of Ayodhya for help.

Though Dasharatha was initially reluctant to send his 16-year-old boy, he finally sent Rama and his younger brother Lakshmana with Vishvamitra on the advice of the royal guru Vashishtha.

Maricha and his brother Subahu, with a horde of rakshasas, appeared from the treetops like black clouds, roaring and making a thunderous noise.

Rama fired his Astra (weapon) Manavastra (which could hit a target miles away) from his bow.

[3][5][6][7] Later on, under the guidance of Vishvamitra, Rama weds Sita, the adopted daughter of Janaka and the princess of Mithila.

The trio traveled south from Ayodhya and passed through the Dandakaranya (Dandaka forest) to the banks of the Godavari River where they built a hermitage at Panchavati.

Remembering his last encounter, Maricha attacked them in his ferocious beast form to seek vengeance with his demonic companions.

One day, Surpanakha, the rakshasa sister of Ravana, disguised herself as a beautiful maiden and proposed marriage to Rama.

The humiliated Surpanakha approached Khara, a man-eating rakshasha, to avenge her with a vendetta against Rama.

Surpanakha and her maternal uncle, Akampana, who escaped the carnage, reached Lanka with the news and proposed that Ravana steal Sita, Rama's beautiful wife.

He told Maricha to turn into a golden deer with silver spots and graze in the vicinity of Rama's ashram.

Maricha then assumed the form of a beautiful golden deer, which had silver spots and glowed with many gems like sapphire, moonstone, black jet and amethyst on its body.

As soon as the animal-eating rakshasa Maricha entered the forest in the form of a deer, the other animals smelt something was wrong and ran away in fear.

The golden luster of the deer which was gamboling around the hermitage lured Sita, who was awestruck and called Rama and Lakshmana to see the spectacular animal.

[16] With Lakshmana gone, Ravana appeared as a mendicant (Sadhu) and kidnapped Sita as she stepped forward to give him alms.