Girish Kasaravalli was born in Kesalur, a village in the Tirthahalli taluk in Shimoga district on 3 December 1950 to Ganesh Rao, an agriculturist, as well as a freedom fighter, and Lakshmidevi, a homemaker, one of 10 children (five brothers and four sisters). He had his primary education in Kesalur and middle school education in Kammaradi. Hailing from a family of book lovers, he was initiated to reading from a young age by his father. His father was a patron of Yakshagana, a folk system of dance native to Karnataka.