Ramachandra Rao, a professor, is forced to marry Gowri at his family's behest despite being in love with Lalitha. He fails to get along with his wife and broods about his lost love. The movie is based on the novel of the same name by Vani. The film is considered as one of the greatest romantic films in Kannada noted for the strong performances of lead actors Rajkumar and Kalpana.

Mayura challenges an arrogant wrestler and defeats him. Though never formally trained he has only learned techniques of wrestling by observing others. As a Brahmin he is required to study Vedas yet he is deeply interested in martial arts. Ranga Jetti, the premier wrestler in Kanchi, takes him under his wing and trains him. One day while observing the training of Pallava princes Mayura gets into a fight with and thrashes Vishnugopa, the Pallava prince, earning his enmity. Mayura has to flee Kanchi as per the advice of Ranga Jetti to escape from pursuing Pallavas. He also then learns that he is in fact the son of Raja Chandravarma, the Kadamba king who was deceitfully killed by the Pallava king, Sivaskandhavarma. Upon learning of his illustrious lineage, Mayura dedicates himself to overthrow the Pallava yoke. Returning to Banavasi in the guise of a merchant Mayura builds an army and conquers both Banavasi and the Telugu speaking regions around Srishaila, thus building a vast kingdom.