deodhar was born in miraj in present sangli district of maharashtra on 11 september 1901. he started his musical training with nilkanth buwa alurmath, the "guru bhai" of noted singer and educator vishnu digambar paluskar (1872–1931), and a disciple of balakrishnabuwa ichalkaranjikar of gwalior gharana. thereafter, he also received training under abdul karim khan of kirana gharana and vinayakrao patwardhan, another disciple of paluskar. later he joined the gandharva mahavidyalaya, where he became a leading disciple of vishnu digambar paluskar, the founder of institution. deodhar was the only student of paluskar who was allowed to also pursue formal education. thus after matriculation he also pursued higher education and later received a b.a. degree. he also studied western classical music.