The village headman- Arachchila is a petty official with immense powers over the life and property of the people in the village under his charge. He is a loyal and obedient servant of British imperialism, promoting and establishing their political interests in the colony of Sri Lanka- then Ceylon.

Wilson Herald, a British planter, transforms a natural forest into a coconut estate. Seemon Fernando, a married man and an outsider, arriving in the village starts a business on a small scale. Dingiri Banda who befriends Wilson constructs the first tiled house in the village earning the wrath and displeasure of Arachchila who is later found guilty of felling illicit timber and is sacked from office. Dingiri Banda succeeds him as the Arachchila.

Meanwhile Wilson who had started a love affair with a beautiful village damsel Heen Menike decides to marry her. Her father Appuhamy objects to the marriage on grounds of cultural incompatibility. Podi Nilame, a grandson of the Korale Mahattaya who is proud of his ancestry as well as his country, becomes indebted to Seemon and thus becomes a tenant cultivator in his own land.

This was only the beginning of the troubles. More disasters are yet to come wrecking the peaceful simple lives of Sri Lanka due to the changes introduced in the economic, political and cultural sphere. In short it is the result of the foreign influence.