J. Hareendran Nair is an Indian Ayurveda practitioner and entrepreneur from Kerala. He is the founder of Pankajakasthuri Herbals, This is a business group that contributed to the promotion and popularising of Ayurveda and ayurvedic products across the country. The Government of India, in 2012, honoured him with Padma Shri for his services to the cause of Ayurveda. Hareendran Nair was born in Kattakkada, Thiruvananthapuram, in Kerala to Janardhanan Nair, who was a document writer and Pankajam. He was the youngest of their three children. After an early education at the Government Upper Primary School, Kandala and the Christian College, Kattakada, he joined the Government Ayurveda College, Thiruvananthapuram. He graduated in ayurvedic medicine with a BAMS in 1983. His medical career started as a research fellow at Poojappura Regional Research Institute. He submitted his resignation from the service when he was transferred to the central Kerala town of Shornur in 1986. Nair spent the next two years in the formation of Sree Dhanwanthari Ayurvedics, the forerunner of Pankajakasthuri Herbals India Ltd [PHIL], which came into stream in 1988 at Poovachal. The early days were difficult, however this changed in 1996 when Nair launched ayurvedic over-the-counter products under the brand name Pankajakasthuri, a name coined combining his mother's name, Pankajam, and his eldest daughter's name, Kasturi.Hareendran Nair is married to Asha who is involved in the business at administrative levels.The couple has two daughters, both studying ayurvedic medicine. The family lives in Thiruvananthapuram.
