Along with her son, Mārīca, Tāṭakā would harass and attack sages performing yajñas in the forest.

[1][2] In the Rāmāyaṇa, Viśvāmitra tells Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa the story of Tāṭakā when they reach a forest inhabited by her.

[3] The Critical Edition of the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa does not mention many details of the previous narrative, but later commentators and recensions have more fleshed out versions of the story.

According to Goldman, this Malayālam script recension preserves an important part of the Tāṭakā legend that was suppressed in the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa.

Rāma then states that he will not kill her on account of she being a woman, but vows to merely cut off her ears and nose and disposses her of her strength and lair.