 He had his early education at Udaipur and Indore and received a master's degree in physics from Allahabad University in 1928 under guidance of Meghnad Saha.For his PhD, Kothari worked at the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge under the supervision of Ernest Rutherford, to whom he was recommended by Meghnad Saha.After his return to India, he worked at the Delhi University from 1934 to 1961 in various capacities as reader, professor and Head of the Department of Physics.