In rural 19th-century India, the Doyamoyee (Sharmila Tagore) marries Umaprasad (Soumitra Chatterjee) and moves in with his family. Doyamoyee cares for her husband's elderly father, Kalikinkar (Chhabi Biswas), who dreams that the girl is a goddess.
Kalikinkar, who is respected and wealthy, convinces the locals to worship the girl, and she starts to think she has healing powers. When the villagers bring their sickly to Doyamoyee for help, Umaprasad tries to intervene, but tragedy strikes.