K. Raghavan Pillai (1920–1987) was a writer and scholar of Kerala, India.
[citation needed] He, a well known novelist, was born in November 1920 in Puliyur, near Chengannur in Kottayam district.
After earning a master's degree in Sanskrit, he obtained a PhD from London[clarification needed] and worked there from 1948 to 1951 as research assistant.
Upon returning to Kerala, Pillai worked as a lecturer in Sanskrit at University College, Trivandrum between 1951 and 1955, and then as professor at the Academy of Asian Studies San Francisco from 1956 to 1958.
[citation needed] In 1955 Pillai visited China as a member of a delegation of educational experts, and he was a member of many academic bodies and committees.