Court poet Tenali Rama serves at the court of Emperor Krishnadevaraya of the Vijayanagara empire, and uses his sharp wit and wisdom to solve complicated matters quickly.
The villagers of Tenali are flocking to Lakshmiamma's house to attend the wedding of her son, Rama. Meanwhile at Lakshiamma's house, preparations are in full swing for the wedding when Gunjappa, Rama's friend, notices that Rama is missing. Sharda, Rama's bride and his lover, falls unconscious upon knowing the harsh truth. Soon, the villagers begin their search for the eloped bridegroom.
Sharda is annoyed at seeing Rama continue his merry ways and living a carefree life when everyone around him is in trouble. Sharda informs Rama that Gundappa's family will go homeless if they don't repay money to a notorious loan shark. Rama assures Sharda that he will devise a way to save Gundappa and his family.
Goddess Kali appears before Tenali Rama and asks him for his wish. Tenali Rama impresses Kali with his wit and walks away with his wishes fulfilled. Then, Tenali Rama arrives in the village and ties the knot with his lady love.
Tenali Rama travels to Vijayanagara with his family. Meanwhile, the king asks his Nagar Kotwal to catch the thief who has been troubling the people in the empire or he will lose his position. Tathacharya is furious to see Tenali Rama in the town, and he comes up with a plan to teach Rama a lesson. Will Rama be able to escape from the conspiracy against him?
Tathacharya buries Tenali Rama neck-deep in mud and curses him . He manages to trick a passerby and escape. When Tathacharya discovers that Tenali Rama has escaped, he devices a plan to capture him.
After Tenali Rama manages to escape, Tathacharya organises a hunt for him and declares him a thief. He puts Rama's posters all over the village. But when Tenali sees the pictures, he replaces them with Tathacharya's photo.
Tenali Rama tells Tathacharya that he will soon escape from the prison. He manipulates the kotwal and gathers the things he needs to escape from captivity. As Tathacharya visits the prison to check out on Tenali Rama, he finds out that a fire has broken out and Rama is missing.
Tenali Rama traps Tathacharya and the kotwal in the prison and escapes. Furious by this act, Tathacharya demands a death sentence for Rama from the king. As the King asks to find Rama and present him before him, Rama appears in the court himself and pleads his innocence. What will the fate hole for Rama? Will the king punish him with death this time?
Tenali starts his investigation to find the real thief, and he starts by revisiting all the places of crime in order to look for clues. Tenali stumbles upon a few lines written by the thief and comes up with a plan. Although his mother urges him to run away from the kingdom, Tenali insists he will stay and see this through. What is his plan?
Tenali Rama visits Sudhamini's house and is surprised to find Tathacharya. Sudhamini is shocked when she finds her jewels missing. At Krishnadevraya's court, Tenali appears and reveals that he has found out the real thief.
Tenali manages to prove his innocence and reveals that Kotwal is the thief responsible for stealing Sudhamini's jewels. He tricks Tathacharya and forces him to confess to Krishnadevraya that he saw Kotwal stealing from Sudhamini's house.
Tenali addresses Kotwal as Mallu Deva in front of Krishnadevaraya and claims that he is the thief. Tenali gets abducted by a few men. He is shocked to find that Gopanna, Kotwal's aide, is in fact Mallu Deva.
Tenali Rama partners with Gopanna aka Mallu Deva and visits Tathacharya's house to steal. His foolish assistants reveal where the jewels are kept. When Tathacharya arrives, he is angry to see his precious things stolen, and finds a clue left behind.
While Krishnadevaraya gets ready for Kotwal's hanging, Tenali arrives and reveals that Kotwal is innocent. But Krishnadevaraya accuses him of lying and awards him death sentence.
Tenali Rama tries to buy time from Krishnadevaraya in order to wait for Mallu Deva and his men to arrive. After a while, when Tenali is about to get hanged, Mallu Deva sneaks out from a secret chamber and is forced to confess to his crimes.
Krishnadevaraya is impressed with Tenali Rama's wit and humour and officially appoints him as Vijaynagara's jester. However, Tathacharya is unhappy with the decision but is forced to abide by the king's order.
Tenali Rama is excited for his first day as the jester in Krishnadevaraya's court. While he looks for a seat, Tathacharya humiliates him and drags him to the entrance. But Rama uses his wit and manages to win against Tathacharya.
A lady comes to Krisnadevaraya's court and tries to con everyone by telling that she has a magical saree that is invisible. However, Tenali understands her ploy and decides to use her own trick against her.
After being mocked by Tathacharya at Krishnadevaraya's court, Tenali Rama feels humiliated and decides to resign from his position as a jester. But he decides not to give up when he miraculously advises a little girl.
When Krishnadevaraya hears everyone gossiping about his soft corner for Tenali Rama, he decides to take his test. He disguises as a saint and visits Rama's house with his assistant.
Tenali Rama queues up to collect a golden mango being donated by Krishnadevaraya. Alleging that he is greedy, Krishnadevaraya orders Tenali Rama to leave the court and asks him to never show his face again.
Timmarusu secretly visits Tenali and seeks his favour in protecting Krishnadevaraya and the Vijayanagar empire from the unfavorable demands being made by Tathacharya. At a feast, Tathacharya is insulted by Tenali Rama, and he vows to seek revenge.
The council members are stunned when Tenali arrives in the council with his face covered inside an earthen pot. When asked about the earthen pot, Tenali replies that he does not want the King to see his face as it will infuriate him.
Queen Devyani from Sundergadh sends an exquisite piece of jewellery to Krishnadevaraya as a gift. But Krishnadevaraya is caught in a dilemma when both his wives crave for the jewellery. He assigns Tenali Rama to bail him out of the situation.
Tathacharya speaks to Chinna Devi and Tirumalamba and poisons their mind against each other. Meanwhile, Tenali is caught in a dilemma about the 'Sindurpatta'. His wife suggests that he gets another 'Sindurpatta' made to make both queens happy.
Tathacharya finds out that Tenali has replicated two fake pieces of the 'Sindurpatta'. He decides to expose Tenali Rama and asks Krishnadevaraya to get his two wives for a grand celebration. Tenali must find a way to fight back.
Tahtacharya meets Sudhamini and gifts her the 'Sindurpatta'. At the court, Tenali Rama, Krishnadevaraya and Tathacharya are shocked when they see the two queens, Chinna Devi and Tirumalamba, wearing the 'Sindurpatta'.
Krishnadevaraya's queens are shocked when they see Sudhamini coming to the court to perform with the 'Sindurpatta' on her head. When Krishnadevaraya asks Tenali, he reveals a stunning secret.
After Tenali Rama exposes the messenger from Sundergad and the motive behind his intentions to share the 'Sindurpatta', Krishnadevaraya gets impressed with him. He announces that Tenali will be promoted as his special consultant.
Krishnadevaraya is furious when he learns that the people of Vijayanagar aren't intelligent. In order to make his empire strong, Tathacharya suggests that Tenali Rama presents eight fools in Krishnadevaraya's court.
Tenali Rama is caught in a dilemma when Krishnadevaraya asks him to present eight fools in his court. While is family members try to tell him that it is a trick, he is determined to find them. After much hunting, he manages to find his first fool.
Tenali continues his quest to present eight fools in Krishnadevaraya's court, and ends up visiting Tathacharya's home. However, when he sees him mocking and insulting his wife, he is forced to advice him and asks him to respect women.
After pronouncing Tathacharya and himself as the sixth and seventh fool, apart from the five he presents in court, Tenali Rama calls Krishnadevaraya as the eighth fool. Everyone is stunned. But Krishnadevaraya is enlightened by Tenali's talks.
Tenali teaches his son the meaning of Ganesh shlok. Later, another trouble comes in the way of Tenali Rama in the form of the diamond, which is supposed to be guarded by the royal guards.
After Tenali is assigned the responsibility of protecting the Chandramani, he requests Krishnadevaraya to give him a chance for organizing the entire function. Tathacharya is extremely upset when Tenali is chosen over him and plots his revenge.
Tenali Rama, who is down with a cold, welcomes all the guests for the grand occasion in Vijayanagar empire. Looking at Tenali sneezing continuously, Tathacharya asks Krishnadevaraya to hand him the responsibilities of taking care of the Chandramani.
Krishnadevaraya warns Tenali Rama of the importance of Chandramani and asks of him to take care of singers of his court who are still suffering from cold.
Tenali suspects that one amongst the five singers is the thief who is capable of stealing the Chandramani. In a bid to find out about them, Tenali visits each of them and gives them medicine.
Tenali Rama is shocked when he overhears Tathacharya's conversation and learns about his plan to steal the Chandramani. Krishnadevaraya performs pooja in front of the Ganesh idol.
On the tenth day of the Ganesh pooja, a special flower that blooms once in thousand years is brought to Krishnadevaraya's kingdom. During the pooja, everyone is surprised to see the Chandramani bloom inside the flower.
After the Ganesh pooja, a monkey enters Krishnadevaraya's kingdom and takes the Chandramani. A furious Krishnadevaraya yells at Tenali Rama for not paying attention to the security arrangements.
Tenali gets an ultimatum by Krishnadevaraya to find the Chandramani within two days and is in a dilemma. He seeks help and prays to Ganesha to provide him a solution.
Tathacharya and his disciples tell Krishnadevaraya about the consequences that will befall on those who disrespect Lord Ganesh's wishes. A worried Krishnadevaraya asks his guards to summon Tenali to the palace.
In order to expose the real thief of the Chandramani, Tenali Rama hands a pouch to everyone at Krishnadevaraya's court. He calls a monkey trainer and gets the monkey who stole the Chandramani.
Mithu, a new parrot, makes its way to the Vijayanagar empire, and Krishnadevaraya is astonished to see it talking like humans. The parrot reveals the fortunes of Krishnadevaraya, Tathacharya and Tenali Rama.
After Tenali Rama comes back from Krishnadevaraya's court, he finds himself constantly haunted by the parrot's words. He tries to arrive at the parrot's motive behind speaking ill of him.
When Tenali sees a ventriloquist performing, he discovers the secret to the parrot talking at Krishnadevaraya's court. He insists on learning the art form and pleads to the ventriloquist.
When Samsher Khan is unable to get the parrot to speak, Tenali uses his skills and speaks like the parrot. Sasher Khan is surprised and is forced to reveal his crimes.
Tenali is frightened when he hears various ghost tales from his mother and wife. At night, a mysterious beast disguised as an animal makes its way to Tenali's house. When Tenali sees it, he is scared.
A man enters Tathacharya's house wearing Bearskin. He tells Tathacharya about his habit of sleepwalking. Tathacharya presents this problem in front of Krishnadevaraya to seek a solution. Tathacharya asks Krishnadevaraya to appoint Tenali for the work. But, Tenali skillfully asks Krishnadevaraya to assign this work to Tathacharya as he is the senior person. Whom will Krishnadevaraya assign work to?
