In this paper, a nearly perfect metamaterial absorber is proposed with enhanced bandwidth and polarization insensitive. The proposed unit cell structure consists of outer split ring and inner asterisk shaped resonators printed on FR4 dielectric substrate. The designed metamaterial absorber gives broad bandwidth of 2.01 GHz and peak absorptivity of 99.98 and 99.94 % at 19.4 and 19.8 GHz, respectively. The simulation results prove the polarization insensitive behavior of the structure for oblique and normal incidence of the polarized waves at angles of 25° and 85°, respectively. The effective parameter is retrieved and the field distributions are studied. This metamaterial absorber is well suited for K-band applications like radar and satellite communications for uses in weather radar, imaging radar and air traffic control. © Springer India 2016.