BHARAT RATNA AWARD

Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian honour of India

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 (Front side)                            Bharat Ratna Award (Reverse Side)

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.

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.

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.

In fact, our former President, Shri A. P. J Abdul Kalam is also a recipient of this esteemed honour (1997). The last time this award was given was in 2008, to Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi.

Bharat Ratna Award Winners (1980-2013)

         Year                Awardee                                       Discipline

         1980                Mother Teresa                               Catholic nun, founder of the Missionaries of Charity and Nobel Prize winner

         1983                Vinoba Bhave                               Awarded after his death, freedom fighter and social reformer, founder of Bhoodan Movement and a true Gandhian

         1987                Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan               Freedom fighter and first non-citizen, first foreigner (citizen of Pakistan)

         1988                M.G Ramachandran                       Awarded after his death, film actor and Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu

         1990                Nelson Mandela                            Second non-citizen and first non-Indian recipient from South Africa

                                 B.R. Ambedkar                             Awarded after his death, chief architect of the Indian Constitution, economist and politician and lawyer.

         1991                Morarji Desai                                 Freedom fighter and 5th Prime Minister of India

                                 Vallabhbhai Patel                          Awarded after his death, freedom fighter and first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of India

                                 Rajiv Gandhi                                 Awarded after his deatch, 7th Prime Minister of India

         1992                Satyajit Ray                                  Famous filmmaker

                                 J.R.D. Tata                                   Industrialist and philanthropist

                                 Abul Kalam Azad                           Awarded after his death, freedom fighter and first Minister of Education

         1997                Aruna Asaf Ali                               Awarded after his death, freedom fighter

                                 Gulzarilal Nanda                            Freedom fighter and interim Prime Minister

                                 A.P.J Abdul Kalam                        Aeronautical Engineer and 11th President of India, father of India’s missile projects.

         1998                Chidambaram Subramaniam           Freedom fighter and Minister of Agriculture

                                 M.S.Subbulakshmi                        Classical carnatic singer

         1999                Gopinath Bordoloi                          Awarded after his death, freedom fighter and Chief Minister of Assam

                                 Amartya Sen                                 Economist and Nobel Prize winner

                                 Ravi Shankar                                Sitar player

                                 Jayaprakash Narayan                    Awarded after his death, freedom fighter and a socialist thinker and fighter for human rights–associated with the concept of Total Revolution and Partyless Government

         2001                Bismillah Khan                              Hindustani classical shehnai player

                                 Lata Mangeshkar                           Playback singer with a golden voice

         2008                Bhimsen Joshi                              Hindustani classical singer

         2009 to 2013    —                                                 None

List of Awardees

1. Late Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi in 2008 : Karnataka
2. Kumari Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar in 2001 : Maharashtra
3. Late Ustad Bismillah Khan in 2001 for contribution in the field of Arts : Uttar Pradesh
4. Prof. Amartya Sen in1999 for Literature & Education : United Kingdom
5. Lokpriya Gopinath (posth.) Bordoloi in1999, for Public Affairs : Assam
6. Loknayak Jayprakash (Posth.) Narayan in 1999 for Public Affairs: Bihar
7. Pandit Ravi Shankar in 1999 for his contribution in the field of Arts : United States
8. Shri Chidambaram Subramaniam in 1998 for Public Affairs : Tamil Nadu
9. Smt. M.S. Subbulakshmi in 1998 for her contribution in the field of Arts : Tamil Nadu
10. Dr APJ Abdul Kalam in 1997 for his contribution in the field of Science and Engineering : Delhi
11. Smt. Aruna Asaf (Posth.) Ali in 1997 for her contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Delhi
12. Shri Gulzari Lal Nanda in 1997 for his contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Gujarat
13. Shri JRD Tata in 1992 for his contribution in the field of Trade & Industry : Maharashtra
14. Shri Maulana Abul Kalam Azad in 1992 for his contribution in Public Affairs : West Bengal
15. Shri Satyajit Ray in 1992 for his contribution in the field of Arts : West Bengal
16. Shri Morarji Ranchhodji Desai in 1991 for his contribution in Public Affairs : Gujarat
17. Shri Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 for his contribution in Public Affairs : Delhi
18. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in 1991 for his contribution in Public Affairs : Gujarat
19. Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedakr in 1990 for his contribution in Public Affairs : Maharashtra
20. Dr. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela in 1990 for his contribution in Public Affairs : South Africa
21. Shri Marudur Gopalan Ramachandran in 1988 for contribution in Public Affairs : Tamil Nadu
22. Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan in 1987 for contribution in the field of Social Work : Pakistan
23. Shri Acharya Vinoba Bhave in 1983 for contribution in the field of Social Work : Maharashtra
24. Mother Teresa in 1980 for contribution in the field of Social Work : West Bengal
25. Shri Kumaraswamy Kamraj in 1976 for contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Tamil Nadu
26. Shri V.V. Giri in 1975 for contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Orissa
27. Smt. Indira Gandhi in 1971 for contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Uttar Pradesh
28. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1966 for contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Uttar Pradesh
29. Dr. Pandurang Vaman Kane in 1963 for contribution in the field of Social Work : Maharashtra
30. Dr. Zakir Hussain in 1963 for contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Andhra Pradesh
31. Dr. Rajendra Prasad in 1962 for contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Bihar
32. Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy in 1961 for contribution in the Field of Public Affairs: West Bengal
33. Shri Purushottam Tandon in 1961 for contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Uttar Pradesh
34. Dr. Dhondo Keshav Karve in 1958 for contribution in the field of Social Work : Maharashtra
35. Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant in 1957 for contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Uttar Pradesh
36. Dr. Bhagwan Das in 1955 for contribution in Literature & Education : Uttar Pradesh
37. Shri Jawaharlal Nehru in 1955 for contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Uttar Pradesh
38. Dr. M. Vishweshwariah in 1955 for contribution in the field of Civil Service : Karnataka
39. Shri Chakravarti Rajagopalachari in 1954 for contribution in Public Affairs : Tamil Nadu
40. Dr. Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman in 1954 in Science & Engineering: Tamil Nadu
41. Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan in 1954 for contribution in Public Affairs : Tamil Nadu

List of recipients with their Snaps

	Name	Image	Birth / death	Awarded	Notes
1.	Chakravarti Rajagopalachari		1878–1972	1954	Independence activist, last Governor-General
2.	C. V. Raman		1888–1970	1954	Physicist
3.	Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan		1888–1975	1954	Philosopher, second President
4.	Bhagwan Das		1869–1958	1955	Independence activist, author
5.	Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya		1861–1962	1955	Civil engineer, Diwan of Mysore
6.	Jawaharlal Nehru		1889–1964	1955	Independence activist, author, first Prime Minister
7.	Govind Ballabh Pant		1887–1961	1957	Independence activist, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Home Minister
8.	Dhondo Keshav Karve		1858–1962	1958	Educator, social reformer
9.	Bidhan Chandra Roy		1882–1962	1961	Physician, Chief Minister of West Bengal
10.	Purushottam Das Tandon		1882–1962	1961	Independence activist, educator
11.	Rajendra Prasad		1884–1963	1962	Independence activist, 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, independence activist, second Prime Minister
15.	Indira Gandhi		1917–1984	1971	Third Prime Minister
16.	V. V. Giri		1894–1980	1975	Trade unionist and fourth President
17.	K. Kamaraj		1903–1975	1976	Posthumous, independence activist, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu State
18.	Mother Teresa		1910–1997	1980	Catholic nun, founder of the Missionaries of Charity
19.	Vinoba Bhave		1895–1982	1983	Posthumous, social reformer, independence activist
20.	Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan		1890–1988	1987	First non-citizen, independence activist
21.	M. G. Ramachandran		1917–1987	1988	Posthumous, film actor, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
22.	B. R. Ambedkar		1891–1956	1990	Posthumous, chief architect of the Indian Constitution, politician, economist, and scholar
23.	Nelson Mandela		b. 1918	1990	Second non-citizen and first non-Indian recipient, Leader of the Anti-Apartheid movement
24.	Rajiv Gandhi		1944–1991	1991	Posthumous, Sixth Prime Minister
25.	Vallabhbhai Patel		1875–1950	1991	Posthumous, independence activist, first Home Minister
26.	Morarji Desai		1896–1995	1991	Independence activist, fourth Prime Minister
27.	Abul Kalam Azad		1888–1958	1992	Posthumous, independence activist, first Minister of Education
28.	J. R. D. Tata		1904–1993	1992	Industrialist and philanthropist
29.	Satyajit Ray		1922–1992	1992	Bengali filmmaker
30.	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam		b. 1931	1997	Aeronautical Engineer,11th President of India
31.	Gulzarilal Nanda		1898–1998	1997	Independence activist, interim Prime Minister
32.	Aruna Asaf Ali		1908–1996	1997	Posthumous, independence activist
33.	M. S. Subbulakshmi		1916–2004	1998	Carnatic classical singer
34.	Chidambaram Subramaniam		1910–2000	1998	Independence activist, Minister of Agriculture
35.	Jayaprakash Narayan		1902–1979	1999	Posthumous, independence activist and politician
36.	Ravi Shankar		b. 1920	1999	Sitar player
37.	Amartya Sen		b. 1933	1999	Economist
38.	Gopinath Bordoloi		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	2008	Hindustani classical singer