she was born in gangamoola, in the mala village, in karkala taluk, in the karnataka state of india. her father's name was ananta shastri. she lost her parents (laxmi bai) early. she travelled to kolkata with her brother. there, she received (got) a pandita and a sarasvathi award for her expertise in sanskrit poetry. born in the home of an important scholar named brahmin, pandita ramabai had more freedom than many indian women. her father taught her and her mother to read sanskrit writing. she then began to study christianity in india, and later in england. she decided that it was the best religion; that she should be a christian. however, she had not yet received jesus into her "heart". ramabai later said,