Vidhyadhari is the daughter of Vijayavarman, the king of Thejavathi. His minister wants the princess to marry his son but she refuses. Annoyed, the minister sets out to find a different husband for Vidhyadhari. In the forest, the minister comes across an illiterate cowherd sitting in a tree and cutting down the branch on which he is sitting. The minister persuades the cowherd to come to the palace and has Vidhyadhari marry him. When Vidhyadhari realises she has been cheated and is married to a cowherd, she prays to the goddess Kali for a remedy. Kali appears before her, names her husband "Kalidas", and endows him with phenomenal literary talents.