Since its original appearance over 2000 years ago, Ramayana has served as the model for poems, stories, folktales, plays, and films in India, Burma, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines. In each of these lands, writers modified and built upon the original epic to enhance its impact and meaning for their own cultures.With this English version, Ramayana may truly be said to have reached the West. As B. A. van Nooten says in his fascinating Introduction, this is "an extraordinary accomplishment... In the minds of many people who hear the Ramayana a mystery is being presented, and slowly, erratically, parts of the mystery unfold .... We get glimpses of a higher, purer reality that holds out hope for those enmeshed in the sorry state of mundane existence. Again and again [we] experience this joy of discovery. The struggle between good and evil is on our behalf, and Rama is our hero."