Bharat Ratna Award

Bharat Ratna Awardees List

India has produced a legacy of brave hearts since times immemorial. Probably there is not enough space to measure their sacrifices. However, we cannot close our eyes to those people who have made our country proud by excelling in their own fields and bringing us international recognition. Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian honour, given for exceptional service towards advancement of Art, Literature and Science, and in recognition of Public Service of the highest order.

The original specifications for the award called for a circular gold medal, 35 mm in diameter, with the sun and the Hindi legend "Bharat Ratna" above and a floral wreath below. The reverse was to carry the state emblem and motto. It was to be worn around the neck from a white ribbon. This design was altered after a year.

Bharat Ratna Award

Bharat Ratna Award
(Reverse Side)

The provision of Bharat Ratna was introduced in 1954. The first ever Indian to receive this award was the famous scientist, Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman. Since then, many dignitaries, each a whiz in varied aspects of their career has received this coveted award.

In fact, our former President, Shri A. P. J Abdul Kalam is also a recipient of this esteemed honour (1997). There is no written provision that Bharat Ratna should be awarded to Indian citizens only. The award has been awarded to a naturalized Indian citizen, Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, better known as Mother Teresa (1980) and to two non-Indians – Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Nelson Mandela (1990). It is also not mandatory that Bharat Ratna be awarded every year. The last time this award was given was in 2008, to Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi.

1. Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi
Arts : 2008 : India : Karnataka

2. Kumari Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar
Arts : 2001 : India : Maharashtra

3. Late. Ustad Bismillah Khan
Arts : 2001 : India : Uttar Pradesh

4. Prof. Amartya Sen
Literature & Education : 1999 : United Kingdom :

5. Lokpriya Gopinath (posth.) Bordoloi
Public Affairs : 1999 : India : Assam

6. Loknayak Jayprakash (Posth.) Narayan
Public Affairs : 1999 : India : Bihar

7. Pandit Ravi Shankar
Arts : 1999 : United States :

8. Shri Chidambaram Subramaniam
Public Affairs : 1998 : India : Tamil Nadu

9. Smt. M.S. Subbulakshmi
Arts : 1998 : India : Tamil Nadu

10. Shri (Dr.) A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
Science & Engineering. : 1997 : India : Delhi

11. Smt. Aruna Asaf (Posth.) Ali
Public Affairs : 1997 : India : Delhi

12. Shri Gulzari Lal (Shri) Nanda
Public Affairs : 1997 : India : Gujarat

13. Shri Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhai Tata
Trade & Industry : 1992 : India : Maharashtra

14. Shri Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
Public Affairs : 1992 : India : West Bengal

15. Shri Satyajit Ray
Arts : 1992 : India : West Bengal

16. Shri Morarji Ranchhodji Desai
Public Affairs : 1991 : India : Gujarat

17. Shri Rajiv Gandhi
Public Affairs : 1991 : India : Delhi

18. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Public Affairs : 1991 : India : Gujarat

19. Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedakr
Public Affairs : 1990 : India : Maharashtra

20. Dr. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
Public Affairs : 1990 : South Africa

21. Shri Marudur Gopalan Ramachandran
Public Affairs : 1988 : India : Tamil Nadu

22. Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan
Social Work : 1987 : Pakistan :

23. Shri Acharya Vinoba Bhave
Social Work : 1983 : India : Maharashtra

24. Mother Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu Teresa
Social Work : 1980 : India : West Bengal

25. Shri Kumaraswamy Kamraj
Public Affairs : 1976 : India : Tamil Nadu

26. Shri V.V. Giri
Public Affairs : 1975 : India : Orissa

27. Smt. Indira Gandhi
Public Affairs : 1971 : India : Uttar Pradesh

28. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri
Public Affairs : 1966 : India : Uttar Pradesh

29. Dr. Pandurang Vaman Kane
Social Work : 1963 : India : Maharashtra

30. Dr. Zakir Hussain
Public Affairs : 1963 : India : Andhra Pradesh

31. Dr. Rajendra Prasad
Public Affairs : 1962 : India : Bihar

32. Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy
Public Affairs : 1961 : India : West Bengal

33. Shri Purushottam Das Tandon
Public Affairs : 1961 : India : Uttar Pradesh

34. Dr. Dhondo Keshav Karve
Social Work : 1958 : India : Maharashtra

35. Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant
Public Affairs : 1957 : India : Uttar Pradesh

36. Dr. Bhagwan Das
Literature & Education : 1955 : India : Uttar Pradesh

37. Shri Jawaharlal Nehru
Public Affairs : 1955 : India : Uttar Pradesh

38. Dr. M. Vishweshwariah
Civil Service : 1955 : India : Karnataka

39. Shri Chakravarti Rajagopalachari
Public Affairs : 1954 : India : Tamil Nadu

40. Dr. Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman
Science & Engineering. : 1954 : India : Tamil Nadu

41. Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan
Public Affairs : 1954 : India : Tamil Nadu

http://india.gov.in/myindia/bharatratna_awards.php