Panniyampilly Krishnankuty Warrier (5 June 1921 – 10 July 2021) was an Indian

Ayurveda Ayurveda () is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific. Ayurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population rep ...

practitioner. He was born in

Kottakkal Kottakkal (literally-''Land of the Fort'') is a municipal town in Malappuram district in Kerala, southern India having 32 wards. it is a part of Malappuram metropolitan area and a growing city in Kerala. The town is best known for the Arya V ...

, Malappuram district in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. He was the chief Physician and Managing trustee of

Arya Vaidya Sala Arya Vaidya Sala, popularly known as Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala, is a healthcare centre located in Kottakkal, in the Indian state of Kerala, known for its heritage and expertise in the Indian traditional medicine system of Ayurveda. History Va ...

. He was the youngest nephew of Vaidyaratnam P. S. Warrier, the founder of Arya Vaidya Sala.

Biography

P.K. Warrier was born on 5 June 1921 in

Kottakal Kottakkal (literally-''Land of the Fort'') is a municipal town in Malappuram district in Kerala, southern India having 32 wards. it is a part of Malappuram metropolitan area and a growing city in Kerala. The town is best known for the Arya Va ...

Malappuram Malappuram (also Malapuram) () is a city in the Indian state of Kerala, spread over an area of including the surrounding suburban areas. The first municipality in the district formed in 1970, Malappuram serves as the administrative headquarter ...

, India. His parents were Thalappanna Sreedharan Namboothiri and Panniyampilly Kunchi Varasyar. He was the youngest of their six children. He had his education from Raja's High School,

and Zamorin's High School at

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second l ...

. He studied Ayurveda in Arya Vaidya Pathasala (present Vaidyaratnam P.S. Varier Ayurveda College). He married Late Smt. Madhavikutty K. Varier, a poet and a Kathakali writer. He was Managing Trustee of the Arya Vaidya Sala (AVS) in Kottakal and was also AVS's Chief Physician. His writings, speeches and research papers have been compiled under the title ‘Padamudrakal’. He established a research laboratory for the identification of medicinal plants and to ascertain the chemical identity of their pharmaceutical constituents which grew into the Centre for Medicinal Plants Research. He turned 100 in 2021. His 100th birthday was celebrated despite the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. A month later, on 10 July 2021, he died at his home in Kottakkal from COVID-19. His body was cremated at the premises of his home on the same day. He is survived by two of his three children, many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. His wife and one son predeceased him.

Writings

He wrote and published several research papers in ethnopharmacology and Ayurveda and co-authored the five volume treatise “Indian Medicinal Plants – A Compendium of 500 Species”.

Awards and honors

In 1999, he was awarded an honorary D.Litt by

University of Calicut The University of Calicut, also known as Calicut University, is a state-run public university headquartered at Tenhipalam in Malappuram district of the state of Kerala, India. Established in 1968, it is the first university to be set up in n ...

. He won the

Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Biography and Autobiography The Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Biography and Autobiography is an award given every year by the Kerala Sahitya Akademi (Kerala Literary Academy) to Malayalam writers for writing a biography or autobiography of literary merit. It is one of th ...

for ''Smrithi Parvam'' in 2008 and received the 30th ''Dhanvanthri Award'' from the then-governor of Maharashtra,

P. C. Alexander Padinjarethalakal Cherian Alexander (20 March 1921 – 10 August 2011) was an Indian Administrative Service officer of 1948 batch who served as the Governor of Tamil Nadu from 1988 to 1990 and as the Governor of Maharashtra from 1993 to 2002. H ...

, in 2010. Warrier received the

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

in 1999 and the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

Award in 2010 from the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

for his contribution to

. Other notable awards include the "International Bhoopalman Singh Award" from Nepal, the "Dr. Poulos Mar Gregorios Award" for his contribution to the development of Ayurveda and the ‘Management Leadership Award’ instituted by Kerala Management Association (KMA). A plant discovered by scientists at the Centre for Medicinal Plants Research of Kottakkal Aryavaidya Sala was named ''Gymnostachyum warrieranum'' in his honour.

References

External links

* Padma Bhushan award ceremony video coverage on YouTube
70 years of trustee ship

P.K. Warrier—Epitome of a Glowing Ayurveda Tradition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warrier, P. K. 1921 births 2021 deaths Indian centenarians Men centenarians 20th-century Indian medical doctors Ayurvedacharyas from Kerala People from Malappuram district Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in medicine Recipients of the Padma Shri in medicine Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in India