During these days, V. Raghavan came under the tutelage of Pandit Sengalipuram Appaswamy Shastrigal and attended the Board High School in Tiruvarur.
[3] After a brief tenure as the superintendent of the Thanjavur Maharaja Serfoji's Saraswathi Mahal Library, Raghavan joined the Madras University in 1934 as a Ph.D. assistant and in 1935 as a lecturer.
[4] Proficient in reading and deciphering palm-leaf manuscripts in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and Pali, Raghavan discovered, edited, and published numerous previously unpublished works during his long tenure at the University of Madras.
For this endeavor, he gathered information on manuscripts in libraries, research institutions, monasteries, and private collections in India and abroad.
He was invited to the USSR twice and to countries of East and Southeast Asia, Australia, Mauritius, Mexico, and Nepal, where he continued cataloging manuscripts, among other activities such as lecturing.
Early in his career, he wrote reviews for the renowned magazines Sound & Shadow and Triveni on Carnatic music, Bharatanatya, and Harikatha performances.
[9] V. Raghavan authored numerous articles and books on Carnatic music, Bharatanatyam, and aesthetics in English, Tamil, and Sanskrit.
[10][11] He was known both for his command of primary texts in Sanskrit and for making them accessible to scholars, students, and Sanskrit-loving public through his articles and commentaries.
He has also composed several songs including "Candrashekharam Ashraye" on Jagadguru Shri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swamy and Maithreem Bhajata, which were later rendered by the famous Carnatic musician Smt.M.
[17] Among Raghavan's major works of on dance and drama are the critical edition of Nṛtta Ratnāvalī of Jayasenapati (1254 A.D.) and Śṛṅgāra Mañjarī by Saint Akbar Shah (17th century),[11] and the Nātakalaksanaratnakośa of Sāgaranandin, a 13th century treatise on the Hindu theater translated by Myles Dillon (Irish historian, philologist, and celticist) and Murray Fowler (Indologist and Linguist, University of Wisconsin), with introduction and notes by Raghavan.
His paper on Bharatanatyam, which he presented at the first dance seminar at the Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi, in 1958, covered both the textual and practical aspects of the art.
Kane Gold Medal from the Asiatic Society, Mumbai, and an Honorary Member of the École française d'Extrême-Orient (the French School of the Far East), Paris, and the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna.
[17] Among the many honors that Raghavan received, he cherished most the titles of Kavi Kokila for his epic-poetry on the Carnatic music composer Muthuswami Dikshitar titled, Śrī Muttuswāmi Dīkṣita Charita Mahākāvyam, and Sakala-Kalā-Kalāpa, for his multi-faceted scholarship, both honors bestowed by His Holiness Sri Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, the 68th Sankaracharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peeta.
[2] A book Smriti Kusumanjali was released, compiling tributes to him on his 60th birthday from personalities including then-president Dr. S. Radhakrishnan and vice-president V. V.