Ramabai was born in a poor family to Bhiku Dhotre (Valangkar) and Rukmini.
She lived with her three sisters and a brother, Shankar, in the Mahapura locality within the village of Vanand near Dapoli Ratnagiri.
Her father earned his livelihood by carrying baskets of fish from Harnai Bunder & Dabhol harbour to the market.
Ramabai married Ambedkar in 4 April 1906 in a very simple ceremony in the vegetable market of Byculla, Mumbai.
[6][7] Ramabai died on 27 May 1935 at Rajgruha in Hindu Colony, Dadar, Bombay, after a prolonged chronic illness.