The Indian epic Ramayana has its place among the greatest epics of the world. It is omnipresent, found in language, art, culture, literature, ethics, festivals and ceremonies. It is not just an epic but a tradition. Sita-Ram is not just the epic couple; Ram is the ultimate male, and representations of Indian womanhood are grounded firmly in Sita, making Sita-Ram together integral to the Indian subconscious. It is impossible to conjecture its origin, as it existed in an oral form for an unknowable period of time and evolved as an environmental and socio-cultural process, as not just a homogenised work but one having many voices with a basic unity as well as amazing diversity. The poet Valmiki documented the Ramayana for the first time in Sanskrit, inspiring the next thousand years of the literary tradition of Ramkathas, which were rewritten in all Indian languages, with each contributing local colour, and contemporary historical, regional, cultural and political dynamics; such a rich and varied tradition encouraged its perpetuation through texts and theatrical performances as well as pictorial and oral traditions. It also travelled outside India with labourers, immigrants and missionaries.