A Brief History of My Grandfather

Kannettil Ayurvedic Development Society & RPM Chikitsa Kendram is one of the most well-known and best Ayurveda hospitals in Kollam district in Kerala. It has a working experience of more than 97 years.

Late Vaidyakalanidhi P Raghavan Pillai founded it. He was born as the eldest son of Late Neelakanda Pillai, who was conducting Ayurveda practice as paramparya Vaidyan (traditional Ayurveda practcioner). Sri Raghavan Pillai was a disciple of Sree Narayana Guru, the famous social reformer and versatile genius of India and learnt the divine language “Sanskrit” which is considered as the soul of the Ayurvedic science. But his thirst for study made him to join the Sanskrit school and vaidya sastri (Ayurveda) in Changankulangara, Ochira. There he got the chance of becoming the student of Great Vaidyas including Cheruthitta Shankara Pillai. He passed from there with first class and joined the Trivandrum Ayurveda College in the first batch. During the period of studies, he was the best student in the college and he passed out from college with very good result. He enrolled in the Travancore-Cochin Medical counsel with registration no. 24.

The interest in service forced him to start a hospital rather than centering the practice as folk medicine with his father. So he started a clinic in his own village in karunagapally near to his house and named “Dhanwanthari Vilasam Vaidyasala”. Within a short spam of time, he developed the hospital by including inpatient departments and panchakarma departments. And thus it became one of the oldest Ayurveda hospitals with inpatient department and panchakarma in Kollam district.

He was a person with so many special qualities in treating patients among which his love and caring nature to the patients is very famous. He never failed to handover medicines to patients with his own hand after praying God and remembering his Guru, even in a busy situation.
In 1943, he was married to Smt. Madhavakuttiamma. After giving birth to two male children, she expired in the year 1949. He over come the tough situation with the small kids in the absence of his beloved wife.

In 1951, Dr. Pandavathu K Thankamani Amma lighted his life as his wife and thereafter she was with him for each and every step and development of the hospital and pharmacy. As their assistants, their sons; Dr. Ramachandran Pillai and Dr. Shankara Pillai were with them.
The second stage of development started with the starting of the new-sophisticated manufacturing wing with the most modern machineries and the new buildings for hospitals. The new hospital was inaugurated by ex. speaker R Shankaranarayan Thambi on May 1st 1986.
In the course of time, new buildings were constructed for hospital and manufacturing section. Now the hospital is under the management of Dr. Shankara Pillai, the son of founder and a medical graduate.

Now the pharmacy has the facilities of “GMP” standards as fixed by the government for the high standards in manufacturing Ayurvedic medicines. The hospital has well equipped panchakarma theater with well trained staffs.