The earliest reference to the story of the Ramayana is found in the Purananuru which is dated from 1st century BCE and 5th century CE. The age of Sangam literature (Tamil: சங்க இலக்கியம், caṅka ilakkiyam) refers to the ancient Tamil literature roughly extends between 300 BC and 300 AD, although most of the work is believed to have been composed between 100 CE and 250 CE. The earliest known written version of Ramayana in the Tamil language, in the 12th century CE, by Kambar as Ramavataram (popularly known as Kamba Ramayanam). The original set in Sanskrit consists of 24,000 verses, and there are several variations in the story narrated in South Asian and South East Asian cultures, across the Indian subcontinent, Thailand and Indonesia, with several versions re-written in various Indian and other Asian languages. During the exile, Sita gets kidnapped by the king Ravana of Lanka, and Rama, with the help of a vanara (primate-like forest dwellers) army, rescues Sita from Lanka. The story is narrated by the saint poet Valmiki and tells the tale of Prince Rama of the city of Ayodhya, who is banished into the forest, accompanied by his wife Sita and half-brother Lakshmana. Goldman, the oldest parts of the Ramayana date to the mid- 8th century BCE. Ramayana is one of the ancient Indian epics.
