The Ramayana was an important influence on later Sanskrit poetry and the Hindu life and culture, and its main characters were fundamental to the cultural consciousness of a number of nations, both Hindu and Buddhist. There are also Cambodian ( Reamker), Indonesian, Filipino, Thai ( Ramakien), Lao, Burmese, Nepali, Maldivian, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Tibeto-Chinese, and Malay versions of the Ramayana. There are many versions of Ramayana in Indian languages, besides Buddhist, and Jain adaptations. It is one of the largest ancient epics in world literature and consists of nearly 24,000 verses (mostly set in the Shloka/ Anuṣṭubh metre), divided into seven kāṇḍa (chapters) the first and the seventh being later additions.
The scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 7th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages extending up to the 3rd century CE, although original date of composition is unknown.
