Bom in the year 1927 in Kothapalli, a small village, Nedunuri Krishnamurthi spent his early childhood in nearby Pithapuram, the birth place of many literary giants like Venkata Parvatesa Kavulu, renaissance poets like Devulapalli Krishna Sastry and musical luminaries like Tumarada Sangameswara Sastry. His father, who held a very small job in the estate of the Raja of Pithapuram, earning just 20 rupees a month, was unable to provide any formal education to him. The only education he had till he was 10 to 11 years of age was learning Sanskrit and Hindi because they were taught free. "Learn anything—if taught free," his father had said. His elder brother was learning music and his uncle also used to sing in the house.