Muthukaalai, an angry young man, returns to his village after studying in the city. Ambalam is a respected panchayat headman since his brother married a woman from another caste, he hates their family. Poochandu, Ambalam's niece, falls in love with Muthukaalai. Meanwhile, Muthukaalai's cousin Marikolunthu who is crazy about Muthukaalai comes from her village to marry him. One day, the storm devastates the entire village, destroying the poor villagers' house. The villagers beg Ambalam to let them in the temple until the storm calms down but Ambalam refuses. Poochandu's mother breaks the temple's padlock to save the villagers. The next day, at the village panchayat, Ambalam condemn Poochandu's mother to tonsure and Poochandu to become a Devadasi. In anger against this dictatorship, Muthukaalai ridicules Ambalam and he marries Poochandu. What transpires next forms the rest of the story.