Bharat Ratna is the high level award and the one who receives it is the achievement leader in India.
Significance: Bharat Ratna is the highest level of award given to Indian citizens. This award tells about the “in recognition of exceptional service/performance of the highest order” which is actually the meaning of award.
About: It was started in the year 1954. This award is given without any discrimination of race, caste, creed, color etc. Earlier this award was given only on the fields- arts, literature, science and public services but in the year 2011, the criteria have been expanded to every field that is related to humans.
Bharat Ratna Awardee is nominated by Prime Minister or President and there are 3 nominations every year.
Award Constitutes: The Sanad (certificate) signed by the President along with peepal-leaf–shaped medallion is given to the person who received Bharat ratna.
Below is the table which lists people who have received Bharat Ratna from the year 1954- 2017.
* Posthumous- Award after the Death
List Of Bharat Ratna Winners
Serial Number | Name | Awarded Year | About him/her | Birth/Death |
1 | Shri Chakravarti Rajagopalachari | 1954 | Last Governor – General, Independence activist | 1878 –1972 |
2 | Dr. Sarvapali Radhakrishnan | 1954 | India’s 1st Vice President (1952 – 1962), Philosopher and India’s 2nd President (1962 – 1967) | 1888 –1975 |
3 | Dr. Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman | 1954 | Physicist | 1888 – 197 |
4 | Dr. Bhagwan Das | 1955 | Author, Independence activist, Kashi Vidya Peeth Founder | 1869 –1958 |
5 | Dr. Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya | 1955 | Diwan of Mysore, Civil engineer | 1861 –1962 |
6 | Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru | 1955 | Author, Independence activist, 1st Prime Minister | 1889 –1964 |
7 | Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant | 1957 | Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Independence activist, Home Minister | 1887 –1961 |
8 | Dr. Dhondo Keshave Karve | 1958 | Educator, social reformer | 1858 –1962 |
9 | Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy | 1961 | Chief Minister of West Bengal and a Physician | 1882 –1962 |
10 | Shri Purushottam Das Tandon | 1961 | Educator, Independence activist | 1882 –1962 |
11 | Dr. Rajendra Prasad | 1962 | Jurist, Independence activist, 1st President of India | 1884 –1963 |
12 | Dr. Zakir Hussain | 1963 | Scholar, Independence activist, 3rd President of India | 1897 –1969 |
13 | Dr. Pandurang Vaman Kane | 1963 | Sanskrit scholar and Indologist | 1880 –1972 |
14 | Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri (Posthumous) | 1966 | 2nd Prime Minister of India, Independence activist | 1904 –1966 |
15 | Smt. Indira Gandhi | 1971 | 3rd Prime Minister of India | 1917 –1984 |
16 | Shri Varahagiri Venkata Giri | 1975 | 4th President, Trade unionist | 1894 –1980 |
17 | Shri Kumaraswami Kamraj (Posthumous) | 1976 | Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Independence activist | 1903 –1975 |
18 | Mother Teresa | 1980 | Founder of Missionaries of Charity and a Catholic nun | 1910 –1997 |
19 | Shri Acharya Vinobha Bhave (Posthumous) | 1983 | Independence activist and a Social reformer | 1895 –1982 |
20 | Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan | 1987 | Independence activist, First non-citizen | 1890 –1988 |
21 | Shri Marudu Gopalan Ramachandran (Posthumous) | 1988 | Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Film actor | 1917 –1987 |
22 | Dr. Bhim Rao Ramji Ambedkar (Posthumous) | 1990 | Crusader against Untouchablity, Chief architect of Indian Constitution, Social Reformer, Dalit Icon, Historian, Economist, scholar, politician | 1891 –1956 |
23 | Dr. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela | 1990 | 2nd non – citizen and non – Indian recipient, Leader of Anti – Apartheid movement | 1918- |
24 | Shri Rajiv Gandhi (Posthumous) | 1991 | 6th Prime Minister of India | 1944 –1991 |
25 | Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (Posthumous) | 1991 | Independence activist, 1st Home Minister | 1875 –1950 |
26 | Shri Morarji Ranchhodji Desai | 1991 | 4th Prime Minister and Independence activist | 1896 –1995 |
27 | Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (Posthumous) | 1992 | 1st Minister of Education and an Independence activist | 1888 –1958 |
28 | Shri Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhai Tata | 1992 | Philanthropist and an Industrialist | 1904 –1993 |
29 | Shri Satyajit Ray | 1992 | Filmmaker | 1922 –1992 |
30 | Shri Gulzarilal Nanda | 1997 | Interim Prime Minister, Independence activist | 1898 –1998 |
31 | Smt. Aruna Asaf Ali (Posthumous) | 1997 | Independence activist | 1909 –1996 |
32 | Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam | 1997 | Aeronautical Engineer and 11th President of India | 1931- |
33 | Smt. Madurai Sanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi | 1998 | Carnatic classical singer | 1916 –2004 |
34 | Shri Chidambaram Subramniam | 1998 | Minister of Agriculture and an Independence activist | 1910 –2000 |
35 | Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan (Posthumous) | 1999 | Politician, Independence activist | 1902 –1979 |
36 | Professor Amartya Sen | 1999 | Economist | 1933- |
37 | Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi (Posthumous) | 1999 | Chief Minister of Assam, Independence activist | 1890 –1950 |
38 | Pandit Ravi Shankar | 1999 | Sitar player | 1920 –2012 |
39 | Sushri Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar | 2001 | Playback singer | 1929- |
40 | Ustad Bismillah Khan | 2001 | Hindustani classical shehnai player | 1916 –2006 |
41 | Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi | 2009 | Hindustani classical singer | 1922 – 2011 |
42 | Sachin Tendulkar | 2014 | Indian Cricketer, First Sportsman and Youngest Indian who got Bharat Ratna | 1973- |
43 | Prof. C.N.R Rao | 2014 | Indian Scientist | 1934- |
44 | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | 2015 | Atal Bihari Vajpayee is an Indian statesman who was the Eleventh Prime Minister of India from BJP | 1924- |
45 | Madan Mohan Malviya | 2015 | The freedom icon and Educationist popularly known as ‘Mahamana”. | 1861 –1946 |