SS Rajamouli’s announcement video for Varanasi, starring Mahesh Babu, has set the Indian film world buzzing.
Grand, stylish and ambitious, the glimpse positions the film for a massive 2027 release.
Yet, amidst the excitement, a single detail in the video has an element to debate, a shot referencing “Tretayuga, Lanka Nagaram, 7200 BC.”
The question that now looms large is, on what basis did Rajamouli assign this date?
According to Valmiki, the Ramayana took place in Tretayuga of the 24th Mahayuga, whereas we currently live in the Kaliyuga of the 28th Mahayuga.
A single Mahayuga (sum total of years span Krita, Treta, Dwapara and Kali Yugas) spans 4,320,000 years. By that framework, the events of the Ramayana lie hundreds of thousands of years in the past, certainly not a mere 9,225 years ago ftom now.
Even if Rajamouli mistakenly assumed the Ramayana occurred in the Tretayuga of the current Mahayuga, 7200 BC remains implausible, drastically short of the cosmic timeline described in traditional texts.
Some modern astrologers have attempted to date the Ramayana using planetary positions mentioned by Valmiki, claiming those align with a sky pattern from around 7200 BC. But this logic collapses upon simple scrutiny.
Planetary configurations repeat cyclically, much like the hands of a clock returning to the same alignment every twelve hours. A repeating sky pattern cannot pinpoint a unique epoch across millions of years.
Had Rajamouli simply labeled the frame “Lanka Nagaram 7200 BC,” he might have avoided controversy. But linking 7200 BC directly to Tretayuga creates a factual and conceptual contradiction too glaring to ignore.
For a filmmaker known for meticulous world building, this is an avoidable misstep. Before redefining mythological timelines for cinematic impact, Rajamouli would do well to revisit Valmiki’s chronology and treat it with the respect it deserves.
Matching historical timelines with mythological events like the Ramayana always leads to controversy.
Historians categorize the Ramayana as mythology, and mythological timelines do not align with the historical record of human civilization as dated by historians.
Therefore, mentioning a specific date like 7200 BC here is unnecessary, amateur and thoughtless.