Varanasi Explained: What Rajamouli And Mahesh Babu Are Truly Creating With This Time-Bending Epic

When S. S. Rajamouli and Mahesh Babu came on stage to reveal the first glimpse of Varanasi, it already felt like history in motion. Forget the event fumbles and the mocktail chaos. The real heartbeat of the evening was the concept clip that Rajamouli unveiled. And that tiny clip raised more questions than answers. What is this movie actually about? Why are we seeing Varanasi in 512 CE, the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica, Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, a Kali temple in a fictional cave system, and then a full-scale Ramayana war from 7200 BCE? And how is Mahesh Babu running across continents with a trishul in his hand like a modern-day Rudra?

Let us break this down in the simplest, most Indian way possible. Grab your chai. This one is going to be fun.

A Movie Built Like A Global Treasure Hunt With Mythology At Its Core

Rajamouli has not made a mythological film. He has not made a pure action adventure either. He has mixed both ideas together and created a world where mythology, science fiction, archaeology, timelines and ancient cosmic energy all collide. The entire movie seems to revolve around one mysterious cosmic object. Something that fell on Earth during the Ramayana war. Something that carries godly energy. Something that two ancient bloodlines have been fighting for over thousands of years. On one side is Rudra, played by Mahesh Babu. His lineage goes back to Shri Ram. Their duty is to guard a powerful relic that should never fall into the wrong hands. On the other side is Kumbh, played by Prithviraj Sukumaran. His ancestry is connected to Ravana and Kumbhakarna. He is physically broken in the present timeline and is desperate for this ancient relic because it may be the only thing that can cure him. This gives the movie a very simple backbone.Two lineages. One relic.A global race. A ticking timeline.

Three Timelines And One Big Disaster Waiting To Happen

Rajamouli seems to be telling this story through multiple time periods. That is why the teaser jumped from Varanasi in 512 CE to Antarctica in 2027 to Treta Yuga in 7200 BCE.

1. 7200 BCE: The Ramayana Timeline

This is where we see the true scale of the cosmic battle. A giant Hanuman. A mountain-size Vanara Sena. Shri Ram preparing a divine arrow. A massive figure in front of him. This could be Ravana or Kumbhakarna. Rajamouli has confirmed that he is recreating one major episode from the Ramayana. That episode is likely the moment when a divine weapon hit the ground and created something that survived through time.

2. 512 CE: Ancient Varanasi

A strange ritual takes place. A fire rises toward the sky. A falling object meets this fire. The sky lights up and the cosmic relic awakens again. This moment may be the bridge between mythological energy and future disaster.

3. 2027: The Present Timeline

This is where Rudra and Kumbh collide. Their global chase takes them to Antarctica, Africa, India and perhaps even other parts of the world. The Ross Ice Shelf reveals a ship broken into three parts, as if something pierced it from the sky. Kilimanjaro hides clues. The fictional UgraBhatti caves reveal a dark cult worshipping something hidden underground. Mandakini, played by Priyanka Chopra, is connected to this mystery.

Everything connects to the relic that fell long ago.

What Is This Cosmic Object? Three Strong Possibilities

Based on the visual cues, it could be one of these.

1. The Sanjeevani Herb

Mahesh Babu’s lineage protects it.Prithviraj’s character needs it.This gives a clean hero-villain motive.

2. The Brahmastra Fired By Shri Ram

The teaser hints that this weapon splintered mountains, froze oceans, and cut through a ship with precision. The same energy could be resurfacing now.

3. Ravana’s Navel Secret

This was the core of his immortality.If this is what fell on Earth, the entire world would fight to control it.

Rajamouli is hiding the real answer, but the teaser strongly hints at a god-weapon, not a plant.

Why So Much Focus On Mountains, Ice Shelves And Caves

Mountains represent ancient secrets. Ice shelves preserve things untouched for centuries.Caves represent hidden knowledge lost in time.

Rajamouli is building a world where the past is frozen across different parts of Earth. Rudra travels globally, not just for action scenes, but to trace the path of this cosmic relic across different geological formations.

Is There Time Travel?

The hashtag TimeTrotter suggests that timelines may open and close as Rudra uncovers the truth. We may not see a sci-fi time machine. Instead, the story may cut between the past and present to show how the same relic shaped both eras.

Parallel timelines are another possible structure.The Ramayana timeline may run as its own story.The present-day timeline may show Rudra’s chase.Both may connect in the climax.

Rudra And Kumbh: A Hero And An Anti-Hero Shaped By Ancestry

Mahesh Babu’s Rudra looks like a modern-day explorer with Shiva symbolism. The bull. The trishul. The raw power. The calm wildness. The ancestry linked to Ram.

Prithviraj’s Kumbh looks like a broken warrior carrying the weight of a curse. His body is damaged. His eyes carry pain. His lineage carries rage.

Both chase the same divine secret for opposite reasons.

That conflict alone is enough to power a film of this scale.

This Clip Was Not AI. Nor Was It A Trailer

The concept clip was moving artwork, similar to what Baahubali used in its early pitch videos. AI does not match the hand-painted textures, imperfect frame blending, or the VFX masking around Rudra’s neck locket. The final movie will look much richer than this.

Why The Event Felt Chaotic

Unexpected delays. Unreliable production sequences.Technical glitches.Audience confusion. No livestream. No smooth execution. But these issues are surface-level.The real event happened on-screen in those few seconds.Rajamouli showed a glimpse of a world that he has been dreaming for a decade. Varanasi is not a movie. It is a universe waiting to explode.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is the actual story of S. S. Rajamouli’s Varanasi movie and how are the different timelines connected?

Varanasi follows a powerful cosmic relic that appears during the Ramayana war and then resurfaces in 512 CE and again in 2027. The story connects these timelines through Mahesh Babu’s character Rudra, who belongs to the lineage of Shri Ram, and Prithviraj Sukumaran’s character Kumbh, who is linked to Ravana’s ancestry. The plot brings together global locations, ancient Hindu mythology and a high-stakes treasure hunt for this relic.

2. Is Mahesh Babu really playing a descendant of Shri Ram in Varanasi?

Yes, early hints from the concept clip and the previous working title Gen 63 suggest that Rudra belongs to the bloodline of Shri Ram. His mission is to protect a divine object that his ancestors have guarded for generations. This creates a natural conflict with Kumbh, who comes from the opposite lineage connected to Ravana or Kumbhakarna.

3. What exactly is the cosmic object shown in the Varanasi teaser and why is it important?

The cosmic object could be the Sanjeevani herb, the Brahmastra fired by Shri Ram or the energy source from Ravana’s navel which granted him invincibility. In the 2027 timeline, this object becomes the centre of a global chase involving Rudra and Kumbh. The relic holds the power to heal, destroy or change the fate of the world, which makes it the primary MacGuffin of the movie.

4. Is time travel confirmed in Varanasi or is Rajamouli using parallel timelines?

The promotional tag TimeTrotter hints at the possibility of time travel. The teaser also jumps between Treta Yuga, the year 512 CE and the year 2027, which suggests that timelines may open and close as Rudra uncovers the truth. It is possible that Rajamouli uses parallel storylines that eventually merge instead of showing direct time travel.

5. Why does the Varanasi movie show locations like Antarctica, Africa and fictional caves along with ancient India?

Rajamouli appears to be creating a global treasure-hunt structure similar to Indiana Jones or Uncharted. Each location hides a clue related to the cosmic relic. The Ross Ice Shelf, the African savanna and the UgraBhatti caves are visual metaphors for ancient secrets buried in nature across the world. These locations also help the film achieve a large-scale IMAX experience.

6. Is Prithviraj Sukumaran’s character Kumbh a villain or an anti-hero in Varanasi?

Kumbh seems to be more of an anti-hero shaped by his cursed ancestry. His physical challenges and desperation to obtain the relic point toward a character who is not purely evil but driven by survival and lineage duty. This conflict between Rudra and Kumbh becomes the emotional foundation of the story.

7. How is Ramayana connected to Varanasi and why is Hanuman shown at such a massive scale?

The Ramayana timeline in the teaser shows the war at its original mythical scale. Hanuman’s ability to expand his form, the Vanara Sena forming a natural mountain and Shri Ram preparing a divine arrow are shown to establish the origin of the cosmic relic. This connection allows Rajamouli to link the mythological past with the scientific and adventurous present.

8. Was the Varanasi teaser created using AI or traditional VFX?

The teaser appears to be stylised moving concept art created with traditional VFX tools. The textures, brush strokes and rough masking seen in Rudra’s footage match the pre-visualisation style used in Baahubali. This makes it clear that the clip is not final footage and not AI generated.

9. Why is Varanasi being shot entirely for IMAX and 70mm screens?

Rajamouli is building a world that includes mythological battles, large-scale landscapes, global exploration and cosmic events. Shooting Varanasi for IMAX allows these visuals to feel immersive and massive. The 70mm format supports wide environments like mountain ranges, ice shelves and ancient temples that are central to the story.

10. What role does Priyanka Chopra’s character Mandakini play in the Varanasi storyline?

The teaser shows Mandakini in the UgraBhatti caves where a dark cult is performing rituals. This suggests that her character may be deeply connected to the relic’s location or history. Her presence in high-action sequences also hints that she is a key part of Rudra’s mission rather than a simple side character.