Paithrukam

Devadathan Chemmathiripadu, a renowned Vedic scholar, has completed Somayagam and earned the title Somayajippadu. He leads a simple, almost cloistered life away from chaos. He raises two sons, Somadathan and Chithrabhanu; Bhanu Namboothiri is the village's chief priest.

Somadathan leaves for Delhi to become a journalist and becomes associated with radical groups. His exposure to modern ideas makes him doubt tradition.

Somadathan returns to the village and finds the daily rituals irritating. He denounces the Vedas as superstition and begins promoting atheism among the villagers.

Somayaji confronts his son about his new beliefs and tells him to stay away from the house. Dathan retorts that he is no longer a Brahmin and has abandoned his Yajnopavitam.

Dathan leaves home, marries Gayathri, and they move to an old haunted house. They join fellow radicals and decide to challenge the village's superstition.

The couple and their allies clean the haunted place and destroy the idols of Nagas. This act marks their attempt to exert control over fear and ritual in the community.

Bhanu Namboothiri falls in love with a girl from the neighboring village, Gouri. Somayaji warns of dangerous horoscope; at 27 his life seems at risk; he ultimately commits suicide.

Somadathan accuses his father of causing his brother Bhanu's death, and anger fuels a growing rift between them.

Gayathri becomes pregnant twice but both pregnancies miscarry. People attribute the misfortune to Sarpadosha, and she dreams of serpents, blaming the destruction of Nagas for the losses.

One evening Gayathri lights a lamp for the idols at the cleaned shrine, hoping to prove her beliefs. She becomes pregnant for a third time and eventually gives birth to a boy.

Somadathan argues the child should not be brought up as a Brahmin, and that no Vedic rituals should be conducted for him. He declares the boy's upbringing must break from the old Brahmin rites.

A group of people arrives to perform Athirathram, the grand yaga meant to please Lord Indra and bring rain. Somadathan leads the opposition, arguing the ritual's meaninglessness, while Somayaji asks Dathan if rainfall would prove him wrong.

On the last day of Athirathram, heavy rains arrive, and Dathan concedes that his father's path has the upper hand. Somayaji returns home and resumes meditation at the inner altar.

Somayaji sacrifices his life by offering himself to the fire, ending his earthly duties as priest. Somadathan chooses to follow his father's path and becomes the next priest of the family.