Dr. Vegiraju Krishnam Raju was born on December 7th 1910 in Marripudi, Guntur district. To lead a quality life and curing diseases without taking medicines, he pioneered in Prakruthi Vaidyam (aka naturopathy) & yoga.
He opened first nature cure hospital in the country in 1937 in Bapatla, then moved to Bhimavaram in 1939 and started Prakruthi Ashramam. He treated various kinds of diseases and patients with different socioeconomic backgrounds not only from surrounding areas but from all over the state and the country. Apart from treating and associated with lot of our own community stalwarts, he spent time with Sri Mahatma Gandhi treating some of his followers in Sevagram, Sri Potti Sriramulu when he was fasting for separate Andhra Pradesh state, Vinoba Bhave when he visited Prakruthi Ashramam in Bhimavaram during Bhudana udyamam padayatra, Akkineni Lakshmi Varaprasad Rao of LV Prasad eye institute and so on.
He was the President of All India Naturopathic Association in 1950 and was conferred Vaidyaraju for his dedication & services in Naturopaty. He died on February 5th 1955 at the age of 44 and was survived with his wife, two sons and two daughters. Prakruthi Ashramam in Bhimavaram used to have the first naturopathy college in our country. Later Nature cure was practiced in Prakruthi Ashramam by his eldest son late Dr. V. Ravi Varma garu till 1997 and is still practicing by his family to continue the legacy of Sri Vaidyaraju Dr. Vegiraju Krishnam Raju garu.