Born 1964 to a nationally respected family of musicians, Gourisankar began studying and playing tabla at the young age of three years old under the able guidance of his father, Pdt. Shib Shankar Karmakar – a noted disciple of the tabla maestro, the late Ustad Keramatulla Khan. In conjunction with his studies, Gourisankar pursued the art and technique of tabla seriously and soon developed superb control over the instrument. Since 1979, he has been under the tutelage of the Tabla Maestro Pandit Sankha Chatterjee, who is the only living Maestro who has studied with three legendary tabla Maestros in strict Parampara tradition. These legendary Masters are: Ustad Maseet Khan, Ustad Keramatullah Khan, and Ustad Allarakha Khan.

Gourisankar a leading tabla Maestro of the present generation. He is an A grade artist of All India Radio and Television . He has toured internationally for the last 30 years and has performed with numerous eminent musicians. In 2008 he established the School of Indian Percussion and Music in Austin, Texas. His playing styles reflect a unique combination of the Farukhabad, Punjab and Delhi schools of tabla playing. He has accompanied eminent artists such as Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pandit Birju Maharaj, Pandit Jasraj, Pdt V.G. Jog, Pdt A.T. Kannan, Lakshmi Shankar, Ustad Shahid Parvez, Ustad Shujat Khan, Pdt Buddhaditya Mukherjee, Ustad Aasish Khan, Pdt. Tejendra Narayan Mazumdar, Pdt. Ronu Majumdar, Rahul Sharma, Rakesh Chaurasia, Ustad Nishat Khan, Pdt. Debashish Bhattacharya and many more.