Maruti Chitampalli was born on 5th Nov, 1932 in Solapur. After passing out from Dayanand College of Solapur he earned his professional qualifications from Koimtur Forest College, Bengaluru. He also secured his training on forests and wildlife from various institutes in Delhi, Kanha National Park (Madhya Pradesh) and Dehradun. He took up study of Sanskrit literature under the guidance of Yadneshwar Shastri, Pandit Gajanan Shastri Joshi, Parshuram Ji Bhatkhande and Vaidya V. P. Dhamankar Shastri. He also knows German and Russian languages.