Bharat Ratna Award Winners List

Bharat Ratna which literally means Jewel or Gem of India is the highest civilian award in the country.

It is awarded to individuals who have contributed to the country greatly in the fields of art, literature and science.

It is also bestowed on individuals in the field of social services.

The Bharat Ratna Award Winners in India are not given any title like Knights but they are given a special position in the Indian order of precedence.

The award came into existence on 2 January 1954. It was established by Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India.

Recipients of Bharat Ratna


Sr.noNameBirth/deathAwarded InNotes
1Chakravarti Rajagopalachari 1878–1972 1954Independenceactivist,lastGovernor-General
2 C. V. Raman 1888–1970 1954 Physicist
3 Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan 1888–1975 1954 Philosopher, second President
4 Bhagwan Das 1869–1958 1955 Independenceactivist, author
5 Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya 1860–1962 1955 Civilengineer, DiwanofMysore
6 Jawaharlal Nehru 1889–1964 1955 Independenceactivist, author, first Prime Minister
7 Govind Ballabh Pant 1887–1961 1957 Independenceactivist, ChiefMinister of UttarPradesh, HomeMinister
8 Dhondo Keshav Karve 1858–1962 1958 Educator, socialreformer
9 Bidhan Chandra Roy 1882–1962 1961 Physician, ChiefMinister of West Bengal
10 Purushottam Das Tandon 1882–1962 1961 Independenceactivist, educator
11 Rajendra Prasad 1884–1963 1962 Independenceactivist, jurist, first President
12 Zakir Hussain 1897–1969 1963 Scholar, third President
13 Pandurang Vaman Kane 1880–1972 1963 Indologist and Sanskrit scholar
14 Lal Bahadur Shastri 1904–1966 1966 Posthumous, independenceactivist, second Prime Minister
15 Indira Gandhi 1917–1984 1971 Fourth Prime Minister
16 V. V. Giri 1894–1980 1975 Tradeunionist and fourth President
17 K. Kamaraj 1903–1975 1976 Posthumous, independenceactivist, ChiefMinister of Madras State
18 Mother Teresa 1910–1997 1980 Catholicnun, founder of the Missionaries of Charity
19 Vinoba Bhave 1895–1982 1983 Posthumous, socialre former, independenceactivist
20 Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan 1890–1988 1987 Firstnon-citizen, independenceactivist
21 M. G. Ramachandran 1917–1987 1988 Posthumous, filmactor, ChiefMinister of Tamil Nadu
22 B. R. Ambedkar 1891–1956 1990 Posthumous, chief architect of the Indian Constitution, politician,
economist, andscholar
23 Nelson Mandela b.1918 1990 Secondnon-citizen and firstnon-Indian recipient, Leader of the Anti-Aparthe id movement
24 Rajiv Gandhi 1944–1991 1991 Posthumous, Seventh Prime Minister
25 Vallabhbhai Patel 1875–1950 1991 Posthumous, independenceactivist, first Home Minister
26 Morarji Desai 1896–1995 1991 Independenceactivist, fifth Prime Minister
27 Abul Kalam Azad 1888–1958 1992 Posthumous, independenceactivist, first Minister of Education
28 J. R. D. Tata 1904–1993 1992 Industrialist and philanthropist
29 Satyajit Ray 1922-1992 1992 Bengali film maker
30 A. P. J. Abdul Kalam b.1931 1997 Aeronautical Engineer, 11th President of India
31 Gulzarilal Nanda 1898–1998 1997 Independenceactivist,interim Prime Minister
32 Aruna AsafAli 1908–1996 1997 Posthumous, independenceactivist
33 M. S. Subbulakshmi 1916–2004 1998 Classical Carnaticsinger
34 Chidambaram Subramaniam 1910–2000 1998 Independence activist,Minister of Agriculture
35 Jayaprakash Narayan 1902–1979 1999 Posthumous, independenceactivist and politician
36 Ravi Shankar b.1920 1999 Sitarplayer
37 Amartya Sen b.1933 1999Economist
38 GopinathBordoloi 1890–1950 1999 Posthumous, independence activist,Chief Minister of Assam
39 Lata Mangeshkar b.1929 2001 Playback Singer
40 Bismillah Khan 1916–2006 2001 Hindustani classical shehnai player
41 Bhimsen Joshi 1922-2011 2009 Hindustani classical singer

Last Updated on 10/19/2011

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