The film is set in the pre-Independence orthodox 'Namboodiri' Brahmin community. Widowed at 17, only three months after being married to an old man, a young Brahmin girl therefore has to live a life secluded from the world even though her marriage has not been consummated. An ambitious Kathakali artist seduces her, but out of cowardice, he finally refuses to recognize the baby born of their union. The young girl is 'excommunicated' from her community but helped by the progressive-minded son of her dead husband.