Odhavram was born in Jakhau, a small village located on the west coast of Gujarat, India, in the district of Kutch.
He was born in an agrarian Bhanushali family in 1889 on the festival of Ram Navami, an auspicious day in the Hindu calendar.
For 8 years he worked as a gunny-bag laborer and in 1937 during the spring festival Vasant Panchami he welcomed his first 330 students to Ishwarram school.
Odhavram wanted the gurukul system to extend to educating the blind so they could be self-reliant and gain social respect.
Odhavram traveled through villages and cities, preaching the value of education, and eventually succeeded in establishing a boarding school in Mandvi.
Odhavram believed in practicing what he preached and when he supported Gandhi’s efforts to accept Harijans untouchables as part of society the Kutch community against him and people started leaving him.
He supported the Indian independence movement and when delivering a spiritual discourse at a convention in Mundra in 1945 he said, "I cannot die in peace till my motherland is freed from these invaders.
However, on seeing a sever Kutchi’s roaming the streets with nowhere to stay, he established a Dharmashala or public shelter with funds and the help of friends, followers and associates.