Siddhāśrama (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa)
Siddhāśrama is the forest āśrama (hermitage) of Viśvāmitra Maharshi. It is the very place where he held the yajña that Mārīca, Subāhu and other rākshasas kept disturbing. To protect this yajña, Viśvāmitra came to Ayodhyā and asked for Rāma.
The āśrama has an older history too. It was the place where Bhagavān Vishṇu had done tapas (austerity) in his Vāmana avatāra before he asked Mahābali for the three worlds.
Sacred history: the Vāmana avatāra
As they reached Siddhāśrama, Viśvāmitra told Rāma its sacred history. Here Bhagavān Vishṇu had once done tapas in the form of a dwarf brāhmaṇa, Vāmana. In this avatāra he took back the three worlds from Mahābali. He asked for three paces of land, and then grew to fill the whole cosmos in three steps.
So the place is holy twice over. Bhagavān Vishṇu did tapas here in an earlier avatāra, and now it is the site of the great yajña of Viśvāmitra. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Chapter 29)
The yajña and its disturbance
Viśvāmitra had made his āśrama here and was carrying out a great yajña. The rākshasas Mārīca and Subāhu, who served Rāvaṇa, kept breaking the yajña. In the last stage of the rite they rained blood, flesh and filth on the sacred fires. This was the direct reason Viśvāmitra sought Rāma.
When Rāma came, the rākshasas attacked. Rāma drove Mārīca away to the sea and slew Subāhu. The yajña was then finished with no further harm. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Chapters 29–30)
Location
Siddhāśrama lay in the Tāṭakā vana, the forest between the Sarayū and the Gaṅgā that Tāṭakā had laid waste. After Tāṭakā was slain, Rāma and Lakshmaṇa went through this forest and reached Siddhāśrama. The āśrama was the goal of the first part of their journey with Viśvāmitra.
Sources
- Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Chapter 29
- Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Chapters 29–30