Lakshmi (Anjali Devi) is a flower vendor in a hilly village called Seethagiri. Chandram (Akkineni Nageshwara Rao) is left in penury after his father's death in an accident. Chandram's friend Raghu (Janardhan) dies from a heart attack, but not before asking Chandram to take care of his wife Suseela (Pandari Bai) and young son Anand (Master Mohan). Chandram's health deteriorates as he works overtime to support the dependents. The doctor advises him to take rest at a hill station. Chandram arrives in Seethagiri where he meets Lakshmi and marries her in a local temple. When Lakshmi reveals to her father Rangadu (SVR) that she has married a 'paradesi' (as tribals called city folks) and is pregnant he asks her to bring Chandram to him. But when she goes to the hotel where he stays, she finds that Chandram has already left the village. Unable to bear the insults from the villagers, Rangadu kills himself. Declared an outcaste, Lakshmi lives all alone and gives birth to a baby girl. Chandram, who had to leave for the city on an urgent call, returns to Seethagiri to take Lakshmi with him, but is told that she has died in a fire accident. Years later, a grown-up Anand (Sivaji Ganesan) and Lakshmi's daughter Tara (Vasantha) fall in love when Anand comes to Seethagiri. Lakshmi tries to wean away Tara from the 'paradesi.' There on the story takes a few twists before leading to an intriguing climax.
