Inspired by his father who was and is the role model in his career, Dr. Raveendran joined Ayurveda College, Coimbatore in the year 1981. The course was designed according to the ancient Gurukula pattern and was for 7½ years. He learned Sanskrit, science subjects like physics, chemistry. Botany and zoology, Ayurvedic texts likeCharakasamhita, Susrutasamhita and Ashtangasamgraha, Yoga and Kalari from gurus who were trainedtraditionally and institutionally. He graduated in 1989 from Madras University as AYURVEDA ACHARYA(Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery). Dr. Raveendran went back to his father for final initiation toindependently practice what he had learned. He also had an informal training in western medicine under an expert– Dr. P K R Warier.
He joined The Arya Vaidya Pharmacy (Coimbatore) Limited (AVP) in 1989 and started his career with a shorttraining in the hospital – Arya Vaidya Chikitsalayam and Research Institute (AVC&RI)– where he later becamethe Medical Director. Later he also became a Director of The Arya Vaidya Pharmacy (CBE) Ltd. He worked indifferent branches of AVP and contributed towards developing all of them into the leading outlets of theinstitution. In course of time, he became renowned for Ayurvedic management of rheumatism, metabolicdisorders, renal, cardiac, cancer and infertility.
Dr. Raveendran succeeded Arya Vaidyan KS Varier as the Chief Physician of the AVC&RI in 1998 and servedselflessly in the hospital from1998 to 2018. With the Blessings of Lord Dhanvantari, who is the main deity of thetemple located in the campus, before whom he offered his daily prayers before consulting his patients, the hospitaldeveloped into a nationally and internationally acclaimed centre for excellence in Ayurvedic treatment. TheNational Institutes of Health (NIH) U.S.A. funded through its National Center for Complementary and AlternativeMedicine (NCCAM) to develop and consolidate long-term scientific collaborations between India and USA inthe field of Ayurveda. The Ayurvedic Trust headed by Dr. Raveendran was identified as the proposed AyurvedicCenter for Collaborative Research to study Ayurveda in India. This highly competitive, prestigious grant wasawarded based on the Ayurvedic Trust’s experience with the seven year WHO-ICMR (world Health Organization– Indian Council for Medical Research) study of Ayurvedic treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, its facilities, andits already strong clinical excellence. This was the first-ever grant that the National Institutes of Health hasawarded to study traditional Ayurveda in India. The study conducted as part of the project was to compare classicAyurveda, methotrexate, and their combination in rheumatoid arthritis, in a first-ever double-blind, randomized,double-dummy, pilot trial. In this study, all three treatments were approximately equivalent in efficacy andadverse events were numerically fewer in the Ayurveda-only group. This study demonstrated that double-blind,placebo-controlled, randomized studies are possible when testing individualized classic Ayurvedic versusallopathic treatment in ways acceptable to western standards and to Ayurvedic physicians (Paper attached) Thisstudy was promoted as a blueprint for testing the efficacy of similarly complex interventions as it showed thatindividualised treatments can be tested using an otherwise standard RCT design, and that blinding can besuccessful if more than one placebo preparation is required (paper attached). Currently Dr. Raveendran is headingthe clinical team in associating with Central Council for Research in Ayurveda Sciences (CCRAS) to conductPhase III multicentric clinical trial on rheumatoid arthritis, as a continuation of this.
Dr. Raveendran’s clinical expertise was invited by Molecular Diagnostics, Counselling, Care and Research Centre(MDCRC) Coimbatore, a not-for-profit NGO working to provide multidisciplinary care to kids suffering fromDuchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) – a disease, the therapeutic approaches for which are still in the researchphase. While there are guidelines to improve the quality of life in kids, the medications that are available for thiscondition does not suit all the patients and are having several adverse effects. Ayurveda approaches are given freeof cost under Dr. Raveendran’s supervision for the past 6 years totally free of cost with an objective to see theimprovement in the quality of life, alleviation to the suffering and a probable enhancement of lifespan. The projectis currently supported by Ministry of AYUSH, the children are closely monitored by MDCRC’s multidisciplinaryteam, and the interim reports are highly encouraging.
He was also the Co-Investigator for the project titled Efficacy of Ayurveda as add-on Therapy in Type 2 DMconducted in association with University of Latvia.The former President of India Shri K R Narayanan was under his treatment in 2001 – 2002 and was awarded aLetter of Appreciation for the medical assistance that he received. Dr. Raveendran’s patients’ list include headsof States and countries, bureaucrats, leading industrialists, and artists along with the most ordinary people fromaround the globe. Students across the globe have been coming in groups for training under him. He was conferred‘The Doctor Excellence’ Award instituted by the K.G. Health Foundation, Coimbatore, creating a history of sortsas it was for the first time that an Ayurvedic Physician was being considered for his prestigious award which isgiven annually by a renowned western medical hospital. Dr. K.G. Raveendran has authored two books in Tamilunder Anandha Vikatan Publications, had written numerous articles, made several scientific presentations andalso featured in TV shows in Malayalam and Tamil Languages.
After taking an early retirement from The Arya Vaidya Pharmacy (Coimbatore) Limited, Dr. Raveendran is nowsettled in Ottappalam, Kerala. He heads Gopala Poduval Lakshmi Trust, a not-for-profit entity created in hisparents’ memory and with an aim to promote authentic and comprehensive Ayurveda through the actualization ofits medical potential to the fullest and through science popularization programs. He runs the clinic in a rural settingserving the needy with quality and effective Ayurveda care