Bharat Ratna Award and Bharat Ratna Awardees

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.

Bharat Ratna Award

Bharat Ratna Award

(Reverse Side)

T he 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 2001, to Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar and Ustad Bismillah Khan.

Bharat Ratna Awardees
• Kumari Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar
Arts : 2001 : India : Maharashtra
• Late. Ustad Bismillah Khan
Arts : 2001 : India : Uttar Pradesh
• Prof. Amartya Sen
Literature & Education : 1999 : United Kingdom :
• Lokpriya Gopinath (posth.) Bordoloi
Public Affairs : 1999 : India : Assam
• Loknayak Jayprakash (Posth.) Narayan
Public Affairs : 1999 : India : Bihar
• Pandit Ravi Shankar
Arts : 1999 : United States :
• Shri Chidambaram Subramaniam
Public Affairs : 1998 : India : Tamil Nadu
• Smt. M.S. Subbulakshmi
Arts : 1998 : India : Tamil Nadu
• Shri (Dr.) A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
Science & Engineering. : 1997 : India : Delhi
• Smt. Aruna Asaf (Posth.) Ali
Public Affairs : 1997 : India : Delhi
• Shri Gulzari Lal (Shri) Nanda
Public Affairs : 1997 : India : Gujarat
• Shri Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhai Tata
Trade & Industry : 1992 : India : Maharashtra
• Shri Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
Public Affairs : 1992 : India : West Bengal
• Shri Satyajit Ray
Arts : 1992 : India : West Bengal
• Shri Morarji Ranchhodji Desai
Public Affairs : 1991 : India : Gujarat
• Shri Rajiv Gandhi
Public Affairs : 1991 : India : Delhi
• Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Public Affairs : 1991 : India : Gujarat
• Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedakr
Public Affairs : 1990 : India : Maharashtra
• Dr. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
Public Affairs : 1990 : South Africa :
• Shri Marudur Gopalan Ramachandran
Public Affairs : 1988 : India : Tamil Nadu
• Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan
Social Work : 1987 : Pakistan :
• Shri Acharya Vinoba Bhave
Social Work : 1983 : India : Maharashtra
• Mother Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu Teresa
Social Work : 1980 : India : West Bengal
• Shri Kumaraswamy Kamraj
Public Affairs : 1976 : India : Tamil Nadu
• Shri V.V. Giri
Public Affairs : 1975 : India : Orissa
• Smt. Indira Gandhi
Public Affairs : 1971 : India : Uttar Pradesh
• Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri
Public Affairs : 1966 : India : Uttar Pradesh
• Dr. Pandurang Vaman Kane
Social Work : 1963 : India : Maharashtra
• Dr. Zakir Hussain
Public Affairs : 1963 : India : Andhra Pradesh
• Dr. Rajendra Prasad
Public Affairs : 1962 : India : Bihar
• Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy
Public Affairs : 1961 : India : West Bengal
• Shri Purushottam Das Tandon
Public Affairs : 1961 : India : Uttar Pradesh
• Dr. Dhondo Keshav Karve
Social Work : 1958 : India : Maharashtra
• Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant
Public Affairs : 1957 : India : Uttar Pradesh
• Dr. Bhagwan Das
Literature & Education : 1955 : India : Uttar Pradesh
• Shri Jawaharlal Nehru
Public Affairs : 1955 : India : Uttar Pradesh
• Dr. M. Vishweshwariah
Civil Service : 1955 : India : Karnataka
• Shri Chakravarti Rajagopalachari
Public Affairs : 1954 : India : Tamil Nadu
• Dr. Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman
Science & Engineering. : 1954 : India : Tamil Nadu
• Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan
Public Affairs : 1954 : India : Tamil Nadu