Dr Panniyampilly Krishnankutty Warrier, the famous Indian physician was born on 5 June 1921 in Kottakkal in Malappuram District of Kerala as the youngest of six children of Sreedharan Namboothiri and Kunthi Varasyar. He had his schooling at Raja’s High School, Kottakkal and Zamorin’s High School, Kozhikode.
A nephew of Vaidya Ratnam P S Warrier who founded the Arya Vaidya Sala, he studied Ayurveda at the Arya Vaidya Pattasala under the tutelage of his reputed uncle. For a while a young Warrier plunged headlong into the freedom struggle and was associated with the communist movement in Manjeri that was marshalling its resources to take on the British Government.
He later returned to his roots at the Arya Vaidya Sala and took over as its Chief Physician and Managing Trustee. During his stewardship the Arya Vaidya Sala took giant strides and established several branches across the country. A concern that netted annual revenues of ₹ 9 lakh when Dr Warrier took over the reins in 1954 now boasts of a revenue of over ₹ 400 crore.
More than five lakh patients on an average avail the services of Arya Vaidya Sala annually. Among its clients are heads of states, intellectuals, senior bureaucrats, artists and common people from all walks of life. Dr Warrier personally treated Prime Ministers including Atal Behari Vajpayee and also President Pranab Mukherjee apart from several foreign dignitaries.
Dr Warrier was among the physicians instrumental in propagating the ancient science of Ayurveda which he opined was a path that could take time in healing but was always effective. He advocated a holistic approach in the treatment of diseases and contributed immensely to the standardisation of Ayurvedic drugs. A prolific writer and orator, Dr Warrier’s writings, speeches and research papers have been compiled under the title ‘Padamudragal.’ He also published seminal volumes on subjects like ethnopharmacology and ayurveda and also co-authored the five-volume treatise “Medicinal Plants – A compendium of 500 species. He established a research laboratory for identification of medicinal plants to ascertain the chemical identity of their pharmaceutical constituents which eventually grew into the ‘Centre for Medicinal Plants Research.’
A genial soul who rubbed shoulders with the cognoscenti and the hoi polloi, Dr Warrier often recounted cases when patients who had exhausted all remedies under other disciplines made a beeline to the Arya Vaidya Sala and went back cured and rejuvenated. Dr Warrier turned centenarian on June 2021 and passed away on 10th July after being afflicted with Covid 19, breathing his last at the ‘Kailasa Mandiram’ the official headquarters of the Arya Vaidya Sala in Kottakkal.
Among his laurels were the Padma Shri (1999) and the Padma Bhushan (2010). He was also a recipient of honorary D Litt from the Calicut University and the 30th Dhanvanthari Award instituted by Maharashtra government. The Kerala government bestowed on him the Kerala Sahitya Academy Award for his autobiography “Smrithi Parvam’ which encapsulated his over seven decades of practice as an Ayurvedic physician. The autobiography incidentally was a best seller as well.
At an All India Ayurvedic Conference, Dr Warrier was presented with the prestigious ‘Ayurveda Maharishi’ award. A patron of the fine arts, the physician was instrumental in the setting up of an Academy in the name of his uncle P S Warrier which sponsored the training of students in the sublime art of Kathakali. The passing away of Dr Warrier who served the Arya Vaidya Sala till his last breath, cast a pall of gloom over the Ayurvedic fraternity across the country.
In a glowing tribute to Dr Warrier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi observed that he was saddened by the passing away of Dr P K Warrier and that his contributions to popularise Ayurveda will always be remembered. In his long and illustrious career of over seven decades, Dr Warrier carved a permanent niche in the galaxy of top physicians the world has ever seen.
C.V. Aravind is a Bangalore-based freelance journalist.