If your brain feels fried after finishing Mandala Murders, you’re not alone. But what makes us interested in this series is the Myth and Crime. The core concept is brilliant, unfortunately not the execution. So here I will explain what happened in Mandala Murders (2025).
We remember unfinished tasks more than completed ones. When shows leave questions dangling — “Who is Yasth?”, “What’s the real motive?” — our brain loops it until we find closure.
So here’s the explanation, what happened in Charandaspur? Who are Ayasthis? Are they real or fiction?
The World of Mandala Murders – Ayasthis, Energy, and the Cult of Yasth
Let’s start from the very beginning.
There’s a small, eerie town called Charandaspur — the kind of place where people still whisper about curses and disappearances. Somewhere deep in the Varuna forest nearby, a secretive group of women called the Ayasthis live in hiding. Locals see them as witches. But they see themselves as something else — the chosen ones of a mysterious energy god named Yasth.
Now here’s where it gets mad interesting.
The Ayasthis believe that energy can’t be created or destroyed, only redirected. So if someone dies… maybe their life energy can be pulled back. Revived. Rechanneled. They’ve built a strange machine that can supposedly do that — bring the dead back to life. Why they built it? Who Built that? We need to wait till Episode 7.
The Thumb Theory
Throughout the show, we see people placing their thumb on this mystical machine to ask for miracles. But here’s the catch:
Giving your thumb = asking Yasth for help.
But Yasth doesn’t just help out of kindness. He takes something in return.
Not from you directly — but someone close to you. A life. A body part. A price.
So if you asked for your son to return… maybe he ends up dead later.
You asked for political power… someone loses their legs.
You can’t track it logically — but someone, somewhere, pays.
Now imagine this happening for years. Quietly. One person at a time.
Until suddenly — a pattern emerges.
That’s where the show begins.
In the Past: Ayasthis & Their End
75 years before the murders began, a woman named Nandini (a scientist) arrived in Charandaspur with her husband, Anant, a corporate man trying to set up a nuclear plant in the forest area. Locals were uneasy — the forest wasn’t just green land, it was sacred to the hidden group known as the Ayasthis. The place is Ayasthal, which Rukmini and her cult believe Yasth made it himself years ago.
Ayasthis believe, if something happen to Ayasthal, they should revive Yasth.
One night, Rukmini went to Nandini’s home and warned her about the consequences of destroying their place.
Why Nandini Built The Device
Rukmini wasn’t an ordinary cult head. She was calm, sharp, and spoke in riddles that made dangerous sense.
Rukmini told Nandini about Yasth, a powerful evil power. She showed her the Book of Prediction, and it was written by yasth during his first incarnation in the earth.
Then she dropped a chilling line:
“Book mentioned about Nandini”
If charandaspur seeks to destroy Ayast shrine, Yasth will be reincarnated, and Yast will be created by the very same woman who took part in destruction” of Ayast
Then came the real shocker.
Rukmini said Yasth also written, that woman has three traits, the traits are:
- She will be an Engineer or a Scientist.
- She will be pregnant.
- She will be a widow.
Nandini laughed. “I’m not a widow.”
Moments later, someone rushed in — Anant had died in an accident.
Now rattled, Nandini turned to the Ayasthi ideology for answers. She agreed to build the device Rukmini described. She thought she was creating something for humanity — a scientific invention to bring people back from death.
But she didn’t know Rukmini had a hidden agenda.
Rukmini never wanted the device for people. She wanted to use it to bring back Yasth — and unleash destruction across the world.
By the time Nandini realised the truth, it was too late. The body — stitched from various parts — was almost complete. The device was working.
Nandini made one last move.
She destroyed the body they had built. Burned it. Damaged the ritual. Then the villagers arrived, already stirred by fear and whispers of black magic. They torched the place, hoping to end it all.
But Rukmini escaped — and took the device with her.
The ritual failed. Yasth didn’t rise. But the blueprint survived.
Back to the Present – The Murders Begin
Now in the present day, ritualistic murders begin again in Charandaspur.
Bodies are turning up stitched, deformed, missing parts. First it’s Abhishek, a journalist. Then others — teachers, politicians, cult members. Each body seems to be missing something:
- Torso
- Hands
- Legs
- Head
CBI officer Rea Thomas is assigned to investigate. She’s sharp, emotionless on the outside, haunted by past trauma. But she has no idea she’s directly linked to everything.
Meanwhile, ex-cop Vikram Singh finds that his mother (Vasudha) and aunt (Urmila) disappeared years ago on the same night his brother Pawan died. All clues point back to Varuna Forest.
The Thumb Was Not The Price
As Rea and Vikram investigate, they uncover the miracle logic:
- People used to visit Ayasthis and place their thumb on the machine, asking for miracles.
- In return, someone close to them or themselves would suffer — die, disappear, lose something.
- The thumb wasn’t the price. Life was.
For example:
- Abhishek used the device to kill his mistress’s husband.
- Birju asked for his lost son Awadesh to return.
- Leela asked to save his sons — in return, a death followed.
Over time, a pattern forms. All current victims are linked to someone who made a wish in the past.
Sujay, Vijay, and Ananya’s Politics
Two gangsters, Sujay and Vijay, were suspected of killing Abhishek. But they’re being framed by their political rival Ananya Bhardwaj — Vikram’s sister-in-law, wife of the bedridden leader Jayaraj.
Turns out, Ananya is slowly clearing her path to power:
- She frames Sujay and Vijay.
- Hires a nurse to act as his mistress and gets Jayaraj paralysed with poison.
- Removes all political threats in her way.
But behind her ambition is something much older and darker.
Kalindi, Jimmy Khan, and the Ritual Puzzle
Rea and Vikram uncover the truth about Kalindi, the murdered teacher — she was once close to the Ayasthi cult.
Kalindi wasn’t just the wife of a teacher — she had deep ties with the Ayasthi cult. Long ago, she was connected to Rukmini and the original belief system. She wasn’t a believer exactly, but she knew how the system worked. She knew the rituals, the symbols, the sacrifices.
Kalinidi and her assistant, Maithili, trapped all these people in Aysthi’s sacrifice. Ananya’s PA Vyankat, is Maithili’s adopted son, and Maithili helped him to survive.
In the end, Kalindi herself sacrificed her head for Yasth.
And before she died, Kalindi left behind clues.
A set of eight metal circles — each representing a different part of the Mandala.
These weren’t just decoration. They were keys.
Hidden inside her wardrobe, each piece would later be used to unlock the Yasthal, the sanctum where Yasth could be resurrected.
Along with Jimmy Khan, a folklore researcher, they begin decoding the Mandala symbols found at every murder site.
Each murder Ayasthi cult is doing for a body part:
- Head of a teacher (Kalindi)
- Hands of sinners (Vijay – Sujay)
- Legs of Servant’s Child (Awadesh – Son of Birju)
- Face of a princess (Kavitha , wife of Vikram)
- Torso of a voyeur (Abhishek, Cosuin of Vikram)
- Blood of someone who escaped death (Vikram)
One by one, these pieces are being collected to recreate Yasth, just like before.
Jimmy’s grandfather, decades ago, had figured this out and led the mob attack on Ayasthis. That’s what we saw in Episode 1.
The Jimmy Khan Connection
Enter Jimmy Khan — a history researcher, symbol decoder, and grandson of the man who led the mob attack on Ayasthis 75 years ago.
Jimmy steps in to help Rea and Vikram understand what these symbols actually mean. He figures out:
- The symbols aren’t random — they form a Mandala of Sacrifice.
- Each murder is connected to a specific body part — and a specific sin or sacrifice tied to the Ayasthi machine.
- His grandfather tried to stop this ritual decades ago, but it was never fully destroyed.
Rea’s True Identity
Rea begins having dreams — a mysterious woman, always repeating, “Save my son’s life.”
She later learns:
That woman isn’t her imagination.
It’s her grandmother.
Nandini.
Yes — Rea is Nandini’s granddaughter, she born after Nandini decided to help Rukmini.
Suddenly, everything makes sense.
The murders, the device, her connection to Charandaspur — this isn’t just a case. This is her family’s unfinished business.
Who is the Killer? Who is the New Rukmini?
In the final twist, it’s revealed that the new mastermind behind everything…
is Ananya Bhardwaj.
Yes — the politician.
She’s Rukmini’s granddaughter.
Ananya is not chasing power for elections.
She’s finishing what Rukmini started:
Resurrecting Yasth.
The killer — the one collecting the body parts — is Aaditi Pohankar, selected as the “ultimate warrior” of the Ayasthi legacy.
She passed Kalindi’s test and is now fulfilling the prophecy.
Final Showdown: Rea vs Killer
Ananya brings Vikram to Yasthal — the ancient sanctum — to complete the ritual. Vikram’s blood is the final ingredient: someone who escaped death.
But Rea arrives, guided by Nandini’s visions.
She fights the ultimate warrior. Destroys the ritual.
The Real Miracle: Vikram’s Mother and Her Missing Case
In the middle of all the murder boards, occult symbols, political plotting, and scientific devices, there’s one quiet voice that never left the forest:
“Save my son’s life…”
That voice was Vasudha — Vikram’s mother.
A woman who once carried her dead son Pawan’s body into Varuna Forest, hoping for a miracle.
Let’s rewind.
The Night That Broke Her
20 years ago, Vikram’s younger brother Pawan died in a tragic accident. That same night, Vasudha, heartbroken and desperate, disappeared from home. She was last seen going into the forest with Pawan’s body.
And that was it.
She was gone, along with Urmila (Vikram’s aunt)— no one knew where, or why.
But now, through Birju and Urmila’s memories, we learn the truth.
Vasudha reached the Ayasthi machine. She placed her thumb, asked to Yasth “Save my son” And the Ayasthi logic kicked in — a desire was registered.
But Yasth couldn’t bring back Pawan — because, according to Rukmini, once a soul leaves the body fully, it cannot return. The request was technically impossible.
But they couldn’t reject the wish either.
So instead… they kept Vasudha alive under custody.
She became a “frozen prayer” — a living vessel of an unfulfilled desire.
Her constant chant — “save my son’s life” — echoed inside the forest for two decades, like a glitch in the Ayasthi system.
Why the Ritual Couldn’t Be Completed in the End: Climax Explained
Now here’s the most important bit.
Rukmini’s ritual to bring back Yasth needed:
- The correct body parts.
- The correct blood.
- And clean karmic pathways — meaning all past sacrifices and desires had to be fully processed.
But Vasudha’s wish was still hanging.
She asked for Pawan’s life, and Yasth didn’t deliver.
So the cycle was incomplete.
That one loose end — that unfulfilled request — became the error in the code.
And when Rea arrived, she unintentionally fulfilled Vasudha’s wish — not by reviving Pawan, but by saving Vikram’s life in the final battle.
Suddenly, the wish was no longer unfulfilled.
The loop closed. The chant stopped.
Yasth no longer had the justification to rise.
Nandini was killed by Rukmini. Now, Nandini’s granddaughter, Rea, killed Ananya (Rukmini’s granddaughter) and took revenge.
No more miracles. No more deaths.
Just closure would have been better, they made a tailend showing Aditi Pohankar, that this might continue with a season 2.
So who is the killer in Mandala Murders?
It is Moksha (Ultimate Warrior from Ayasthi Community) played by Aditi Pohankar.
Who is that surprise Villain ?
That is Ananya Bharadwaj played Surveen Chawla
Is Varuna forest real? or Ayasthis real?
No, everything is fiction, and unfortunately couldn’t even build a great on screen world as well.
5 Must Watch Series If You Like the Mandala Murders Theme
The story of Mandala Murders — with its secret societies, mystical devices, body-part rituals, and hidden ancestry — may sound uniquely Indian. But this kind of genre-bending, brain-twisting, cult-infused mystery has global roots.
| Series | Country | Core Themes |
| Dark | Germany | Time loops, generational trauma, secret cult |
| The OA | USA | Alternate dimensions, experiments, prophecy |
| 1899 | USA/Germany | Symbolism, death, simulation, trauma |
| Sacred Games | India | Myth meets crime, religious cults, politics |
| Asur | India | Mythological symbolism, serial killings |
Mandala Murders follows the same global formula — but gives it an Indian spine, layered with energy theory, cult worship, thumb sacrifices, and generational guilt.