The film is set in the pre-Independence 'Namboodiri' orthodox Brahmin community. Widowed at 17, just three months after being married to an old man, a young Brahmin has to live a life cut off from the world even though her marriage has not been consummated. An ambitious Kathakali artist seduces her, but out of cowardice, she ultimately refuses to acknowledge the baby born from her union. The young woman is 'excommunicated' from her community but helped by the progressive son of her late husband.