After a long eager wait, Bahubali 2 has finally hit the theatres and the response from audience is full of high praises for this film which has probably surpassed its own box office collections too. It seems the film has become an epic of its own kind.

The grandeur of the Mahishmati Kingdom and its hero Bahubali is spellbinding and sort of transports people to a different mystical, supernatural world. The sequences revolving around larger than life Mahishmati kingdom can simply leave you awestruck. May be, this is the way mythical epics were created and shaped in the minds of people merged into texts, traditions, society and cultures.

The Mahishmati kingdom and its hero Bahubali are so intriguing, that probably it will not occur to audiences to know if it’s fictional or indeed a part of History. But yes,  most of us would know the entire concept of Bahubali is an art of fiction. It’s an amazing story, narrated in a style. However there are traces of Ramayana and Mahabharata in this movie as there is a certain kingdom named Mahishmati mentioned in both the epics.

It's a certain mythical kingdom and not specifically Mahishmati of the Bahubali film is referred in Ramayana and Mahabharata, as per Wikipedia, Mahishmati was an ancient city located in central India. It is mentioned in several ancient texts, and may have flourished as late as until 13th century.

Mahishmati was the most important city in the southern part of the Avanti Kingdom and later served as the capital of the Anupa Kingdom . It was located in present-day Madhya Pradesh, on the banks of  Narmada River , although its exact location is uncertain. The Sanskrit epic Ramayana mentions the attack of  Rakshasa king Ravana  on Mahishmati. The Anushana Parva states that Ikshvaku's son Dashashva was a king of Mahishmati.

Mahabharata mentions Mahishmati as part of a kingdom distinct from the Avanti kingdom. The Sabha Parva states that the Pandava  general Sahadeva attacked Mahishmati, and defeated its ruler Nila.

The legend of mythical kingdom Mahishmati :