P K Warrier: The man who took Ayurveda to the masses

Padmabhushan Panniyampilly Krishna Warrier, popularly known as P K Warrier, is credited with propagating the modern Ayurvedic system of medicine, taking it to the masses and under whose stewardship the name of Kottakkal town became synonymous with its practice.

The famous Arya Vaidya Sala Kottakkal (AVS), started essentially as a village clinic a century ago at Kottakkal in Malappuram district, flourished under him as a multi-unit, multi-disciplinary, multi-functional and multi-crore organisation.

Born on June 5, 1921 in Malabar district of the Madras presidency, Warrier studied Ayurveda in Arya Vaidya Pathasala in Kottakkal.

Warrier's death on Saturday came a month after his 100th birthday was celebrated by his friends and well-wishers, despite the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic.

Graduated as Aryavaidyan, Warrier was catapulted into the position of Managing Trustee of Arya Vaidya Sala in 1954 after the death of his elder brother Madhava Warrier in an air crash in 1953.

Established in 1902 by his uncle Vaidyaratnam P S Varier -- a visionary physician and philanthropist -- AVS has operations in different areas of Ayurvedic practice.

With P K Warrier at the helm, AVS achieved global reach while holding fast its commitment to authenticity, tradition and universal empathy and became a premier destination for scholars, students and patients alike, both from within India and overseas.

He transformed Kottakkal, a synonym for authentic Ayurveda, where people from all across the world, right from heads of the states to the common man, seek benefits of this ancient Indian system of medicine.

Over 800,000 people benefit every year from free consultations at its hospitals.

It runs Ayurvedic Hospitals at Kottakkal, Delhi, and Kochi where all classical Ayurvedic medicines, therapies and expert medical advice are available.

Under P K Warrier's initiative, three modern medicine manufacturing units attached with well equipped quality control labs were established.

These factories produce more than 550 classical and new generation formulations, which are made available to patients through the 26 branch clinics and over 1600 authorised dealers spread across the country.

Warrier has published many papers on the Ayurveda.

A collection of speeches and writings of Warrier has been published in Malayalam under the title 'Padamudrakal'.

The Vaidyaratnam P S Varier Ayurveda College, Kottakkal, his alma mater, became an institution hosting cutting edge research and innovative education under Warrier's guidance.