The first family of Ayurvedic healing

Many decades ago an ayurvedic physician set foot on Madurai, the land of Goddess Meenakshi Amman, with the aim of popularising the alternative medical discipline. Today, after three generations and nearly 80 years, the physician’s dream has been taken far beyond the realms of Madurai by his grandson.

Meet Dr Ramesh R Varier, managing director of AVN Arogya Healthcare ltd. He is the grandson of renowned ayurvedic physician N Rama Varier who had migrated to Madurai from Kerala in the 1930s. AVN Arogya Healtcare is a world-class ayurveda facility, located in a serene atmosphere at Vilachery, on the outskirts of Madurai. It has branches in Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Cochin and will soon start a centre in Malaysia.

The family has traversed a long journey from starting a clinic with `100 to making an annual turnover of `35 crore. AVN products are also sold as food supplements in US, UK, Germany, Malaysia and Singapore. Dr Ramesh believes in offering holistic treatments by integrating modern scientific principles with traditional ayurvedic concepts.

Dr Ramesh, who imbibed the values of ayurvedic medicine from his father Dr Raghava Varier since his childhood, says, “We never tell the patients that ayurveda has solutions for all the diseases. Instead, we focus on providing comprehensive healthcare solutions for a variety of chronic diseases by integrating ayurveda with yoga, naturopathy, psychology and modern medicine.”

For any patient who approaches the centre for treatment, the experts first study the patient’s ‘prakruti’ (temperament and bio-energies) of the body and then suggest suitable remedies. “We have been providing treatment for such diseases for a long time, now we have also started focusing on preventive care,” says Dr Ramesh. 

The fast changing global order has set in a new lifestyle, resulting in increased consumption of meat, dairy products, vegetable oils, fruit juice and alcoholic beverages. Consumption of starchy staple foods such as bread, potatoes, rice and maize flour have seen a decline. “This new lifestyle has resulted in more cases of diabetes, cancer, obesity, stress, autoimmunity and heart diseases among the youth in the country,” he said.

The healthcentre is now focusing on preventive treatment. “For the last few years, we have been organising free medical camps in IT companies and leading business centers, advising youngsters to adopt healthy habits, while suggesting them to take up a lifelong programme available with us,” he adds.

Explaining the lifelong health programme, he says that they have a 21 days tailor-made programme, where after studying the patient’s body, they offer treatment either for detoxification, de-stressing or weight loss. The patient is also put through yoga, naturopathy and psychological counselling.

For patients who opt to take the lifelong health programme, residential facilities are available. Rooms vary from general to luxurious villas. AVN also boasts of a research and analysis wing. It was with the help of this research wing that they supply ayurvedic medicines in capsule form to various parts of the country.

“When my father handed over the charge of the centre to me in the 1980s, he was very specific about the need to take ayurveda to the global level. With his and almighty’s blessings, I have been able to fulfill his dream,” with this Dr Ramesh signs off.

Address: AVN Swasthya-The Ayurveda Village

175-A Vilachery Main Road,

Madurai - 625004

Tamil Nadu

Phone: +91 452 606 6600

Email: contact@avnarogya.in