Ganapatideva (Krishnam Raju) is the emperor of the Kakatiya dynasty who rules the Kakatiya Empire from Orugallu (present day Warangal, Telangana) as its capital city. There are only two threats to Ganapati's rule. Murari Devudu (Adithya Menon) and Hari Hara Devudu (Suman), dukes of Kakatiya, are both obviously unsatisfied with Ganapati's reign, and plot to usurp the throne. Emperor Singhana of the Devagiri Empire also wishes to conquer the Kakatiyas and name his grandson and heir, Mahadeva, as the king. Meanwhile, Ganapati's wife is pregnant.

Everyone prays for a boy child, because a prince can repel the Devagiri Empire and serve as a successor to the throne. A priest working for Murari and Hari Hara predicts Ganapati's baby will be a girl who will be the saviour of the kingdom.

Ganapati's baby indeed turns out to be a girl, Rudramadevi (Anushka Shetty). Her birth disappoints Ganapati, who, being helpless, takes advice from his prime minister, Siva Devayya (Prakash Raj), to announce the baby to be a boy – Rudrama. Murari and Hari Hara go mad after hearing the news that Ganapati gets a prince, a successor to be of the crown; they then angrily kill the priest who predicted Rudrama would be a girl before "his" birth. Rudrama's gender and real name are kept secret from everyone other than Ganapati, his wife, and Siva Devayya; even Rudramadevi herself does not know she's a girl in her childhood.