Permanent Pictorial Cancellation inaugural day covers

Description: Sri Vaidyaratnam Panniyinpalli Sankunni Warrier was born on 10.04.1869 in Kottakkal in the Malappuram district of Kerala. Young Sankunni started his education in Ayurveda medicine under the classical Gurukula system at the age of 17 from Kuttanchery Vasudevan Moos, who belonged to the Ashtavaidyas, one of the eight great families of Ayurvedic physicians in Kerala. He also acquired proficiency in the practice of allopathy and became an Ayurvedic physician, best known as the founder of Kottakkal Arya Vaidyasala, a leading Ayurvedic treatment center in Kerala. In 1902, Varier established Kottakkal Arya Vaidyasala for the manufacture and sale of Ayurvedic medicines, which later became synonymous with Ayurvedic treatment in India. 

He also wrote textbooks for students of Ayurveda. One of them, Ashtangasariram, received a certificate from the National Organization of Physicians in 1932. He died on 30.01.1944 at the age of 74. In 1933 he was honored for his services to humanity, being given the title of 'Vaidyaratna'by the then Viceroy and Governor-General of British India. The Government of India issued a postage stamp in his honour for his works on Ayurveda medicine and a PPC depicting his face was released on 30.01.2018.