Bharat Ratna Award

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.

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.

List of Awardees:

Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi
Arts : 2008 : Karnataka

Kumari Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar
Arts : 2001 : Maharashtra

Late. Ustad Bismillah Khan
Arts : 2001 : Uttar Pradesh

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

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

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

Pandit Ravi Shankar
Arts : 1999 : United States

Shri Chidambaram Subramaniam
Public Affairs : 1998 : Tamil Nadu

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

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

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

Shri Gulzari Lal (Shri) Nanda
Public Affairs : 1997 : Gujarat

Shri Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhai Tata
Trade & Industry : 1992 : Maharashtra

Shri Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
Public Affairs : 1992 : West Bengal

Shri Satyajit Ray
Arts : 1992 : West Bengal

Shri Morarji Ranchhodji Desai
Public Affairs : 1991 : Gujarat

Shri Rajiv Gandhi
Public Affairs : 1991 : Delhi

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Public Affairs : 1991 : Gujarat

Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedakr
Public Affairs : 1990 : Maharashtra

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

Shri Marudur Gopalan Ramachandran
Public Affairs : 1988 : Tamil Nadu

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan
Social Work : 1987 : Pakistan

Shri Acharya Vinoba Bhave
Social Work : 1983 : Maharashtra

Mother Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu Teresa
Social Work : 1980 : West Bengal

Shri Kumaraswamy Kamraj
Public Affairs : 1976 : Tamil Nadu

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

Smt. Indira Gandhi
Public Affairs : 1971 : Uttar Pradesh

Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri
Public Affairs : 1966 : Uttar Pradesh

Dr. Pandurang Vaman Kane
Social Work : 1963 : Maharashtra

Dr. Zakir Hussain
Public Affairs : 1963 : Andhra Pradesh

Dr. Rajendra Prasad
Public Affairs : 1962 : Bihar

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

Shri Purushottam Das Tandon
Public Affairs : 1961 : Uttar Pradesh

Dr. Dhondo Keshav Karve
Social Work : 1958 : Maharashtra

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

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

Shri Jawaharlal Nehru
Public Affairs : 1955 : Uttar Pradesh

Dr. M. Vishweshwariah
Civil Service : 1955 : Karnataka

Shri Chakravarti Rajagopalachari
Public Affairs : 1954 : Tamil Nadu

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

Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan
Public Affairs : 1954 : Tamil Nadu