Bharat Ratna Award Winners
The Bharat Ratna is India’s highest civilian honor, established in January 1954 to recognize "exceptional service of the highest order" across all fields of human endeavor, including art, literature, science, public service, and sports. Nominated by the Prime Minister and conferred by the President of India, this prestigious accolade remains a symbol of national pride. As of June 2026, 53 distinguished individuals have received the Bharat Ratna, including 14 posthumous honorees and two non-citizens, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Nelson Mandela.
Bharat Ratna Award 2026
While no new awards were announced for 2025 or the first half of 2026, the 2024 cohort remains the most recent group to receive this national distinction. These five leaders were honored for their monumental contributions to Indian society and governance:
1. Karpoori Thakur (1924–1988): A veteran socialist leader who served two terms as the 11th Chief Minister of Bihar, affectionately known as 'Jan Nayak.'
2. Chaudhary Charan Singh (1902–1987): A champion of farmers' rights who served as the 5th Prime Minister of India from 1979 to 1980.
3. Lal Krishna Advani (born 1927): A stalwart of Indian politics, former Deputy Prime Minister, and a key co-founder of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
4. MS Swaminathan (1925–2023): A world-renowned agricultural scientist and humanitarian celebrated as the visionary architect of India's Green Revolution.
5. PV Narasimha Rao (1921–2004): A scholar-statesman and the 9th Prime Minister of India, credited with ushering in the 1991 economic liberalization that transformed the nation's economy.
Bharat Ratna Award Winners List
The history of the Bharat Ratna includes unique controversies and public discourse. For example, the 1992 posthumous nomination of Subhash Chandra Bose was ultimately rescinded following objections from his family. Additionally, there remains persistent public demand to honor the 'Magician of Hockey,' Major Dhyan Chand. Below is the comprehensive list of Bharat Ratna recipients. Note: * denotes a posthumous award; no awards were conferred in 2021 or 2022.
| Bharat Ratna Award Winners List | ||
| Recipients (State/UT) | Year | Key Notes |
| C. Rajagopalachari/ Rajaji (Tamil Nadu) | 1954 | C. Rajagopalachari/ Rajaji was the last Governor General of India. He was the founder of the Swatantra Party. He was the conscience keeper of MK Gandhi. |
| Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan (Tamil Nadu) | 1954 | Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan was the first Vice President of India. He became the country's second President. |
| C. V. Raman (Tamil Nadu) | 1954 | C. V. Raman became the first Asian scientist to receive a Nobel Prize in any branch of science. He is famous for his discoveries in physics like Raman Scattering. |
| Bhagwan Das (Uttar Pradesh) | 1955 | Bhagwan Das was the co-founder of Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith. He also contributed to the foundation of Banaras Hindu University. |
| M. Visvesvaraya (Karnataka) | 1955 | M. Visvesvaraya's birth anniversary on 15th September is celebrated as Engineer’s Day in the country. He was a civil engineer who contributed much to the country's dam development. |
| Jawaharlal Nehru (Uttar Pradesh) | 1955 | Jawaharlal Nehru became the first and longest tenure Prime Minister (PM) of India. He was PM at the time of receiving this award. |
| Govind Ballabh Pant (Uttarakhand) | 1957 | Govind Ballabh Pant was elected to be the first chief minister of the state of Uttar Pradesh. He was an ardent supporter of making Hindi a national language. |
| Dhondo Keshav Karve (Maharashtra) | 1958 | Dhondo Keshav Karve was a great social reformer and was famous for women's education, and widow remarriage. He founded the Widow Marriage Association. |
| Bidhan Chandra Roy (West Bengal) | 1961 | Bidhan Chandra Roy is recognized as the Maker of Modern West Bengal. His birth anniversary on 1st July is celebrated as National Doctors’ Day in the country. |
| Purushottam Das Tandon (Uttar Pradesh) | 1961 | Purushottam Das Tandon was titled Rajarshi. He became the speaker in Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly. He supported the Hindi language making it the official language. |
| Rajendra Prasad (Bihar) | 1962 | Rajendra Prasad swore as the first President of India. He was actively involved in the non-cooperation movement with Mahatma Gandhi Ji. |
| Zakir Husain (Andhra Pradesh) | 1963 | Zakir Husain was elected to be the second Vice President and third President of India. He became the Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University. |
| Pandurang Vaman Kane (Maharashtra) | 1963 | Pandurang Vaman Kane was a great Indologist and Sanskrit scholar. He is well known for his works like ‘History of Dharmasastra: Ancient and Medieval Religious and Civil Laws in India’. |
| Lal Bahadur Shastri (Uttar Pradesh) * | 1966 | Lal Bahadur Shastri became the first posthumous recipient of the Bharat Ratna Award. He was elected to be the second PM of India. He is popular in country for his slogan ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’. |
| Indira Gandhi (Uttar Pradesh) | 1971 | Indira Gandhi was the first female recipient of the Bharat Ratna Award. She was PM during the Indo-Pak War of 1971. She was PM of India at the time of receiving this award. |
| V. V. Giri (Odisha) | 1975 | V. V. Giri served as the first acting President of India. He became the 4th President of India. He organized many trade unions for the freedom struggle. |
| K. Kamaraj (Tamil Nadu) * | 1976 | K. Kamaraj was recognized as the King Maker in Indian Political History as he contributed much to making Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi the PM of India. |
| Mother Teresa (West Bengal, born in North Macedonia) | 1980 | Mother Teresa is the first and only naturalized citizen of India who received the Bharat Ratna Award. She was the founder of Catholics Missionaries of Charity. She was also Nobel Laureate for her humanitarian works. |
| Vinoba Bhave (Maharashtra) * | 1983 | Vinoba Bhave was a great follower of Gandhism. He is well known for his Bhoodan Movement in the country. He received Ramon Magsaysay Award for his humanitarian works. |
| Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Pakistan) | 1987 | Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan became the first non-citizen recipient of the Bharat Ratna Award. He was also known as Frontier Gandhi. He was the founder of the Red Shirt Movement (Khudai Khidmatgar). |
| M. G. Ramachandran (Tamil Nadu) * | 1988 | M. G. Ramachandran was the first actor who became the recipient of the Bharat Ratna Award. He was the first actor who became chief minister of any state. He was the founder of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. |
| B.R. Ambedkar (Maharashtra) | 1990 | B.R. Ambedkar is recognized as the chief architect of the Indian Constitution. He became the first Law Minister of the country. He vehemently criticized the caste system in Hinduism. |
| B.R. Ambedkar (South Africa) | 1990 | B.R. Ambedkar is recognized as the Gandhi of South Africa. He became the second non-citizen recipient of the Bharat Ratna Award. He received Nobel Peace Prize also. |
| Rajiv Gandhi (Uttar Pradesh) | 1991 | Rajiv Gandhi was elected to be the sixth PM of India. He became the youngest PM of India in 1984 at the age of 40 years. During his tenure as PM, landmark laws were passed like the Anti-defection law in 1985. |
| Vallabhbhai Patel (Gujarat) | 1991 | Vallabhbhai Patel is recognized as the Iron Man of India. He served as the first Deputy Prime Minister of the country. He played an important role in Bardoli Satyagraha, modern-based All India Services. |
| Morarji Desai (Gujarat) | 1991 | Morarji Desai is the sole national of India to be awarded the highest civilian honor of Pakistan the Nishan-e-Pakistan. He was elected to be the first non-congress PM of India. He was the oldest Prime Minister of India. |
| Abul Kalam Azad (West Bengal) | 1992 | Abul Kalam Azad was the first Education Minister of India. He is popularly known as Maulana Azad. His birth anniversary on 11th November is celebrated as National Education Day in the country. |
| J. R. D. Tata (Maharashtra) | 1992 | J. R. D. Tata was an industrialist and aviation pioneer in India. He started the country’s first airline named Air India. He established many institutes like Tate Institute of Fundamental Research, TCS, Tate Motors, etc. |
| Satyajit Ray (West Bengal) | 1992 | Satyajit Ray is credited to bring Indian Cinema to world recognition. His first film as director was Pather Panchali in 1955. He was awarded the country’s highest cinema award named Dadasaheb Phalke Award. |
| Gulzarilal Nanda (Punjab) | 1997 | Gulzarilal Nanda served two times as the interim PM of India and two times as the deputy chairman of the erstwhile Planning Commission. He raised the labor issues on a national platform. |
| Aruna Asaf Ali (West Bengal) | 1997 | Aruna Asaf Ali became the first Mayor of Delhi in the post-independence period. She was actively involved in the Quit India Movement in 1942. |
| A.P.J Abdul Kalam (Tamil Nadu) | 1997 | A.P.J Abdul Kalam is recognized as the Missile Man of India. He contributed to the development of launch vehicle technology, ballistic missiles, etc. He became the country’s 11th President. His major works include Wings of Fire, Ignited Minds, India 2020, etc. |
| M. S. Subbulakshmi (Tamil Nadu) | 1998 | M. S. Subbulakshmi was a classical vocalist in Carnatic music. She is recognized as the Queen of Songs. She became the first musician of India to be awarded the Ramon Magsaysay for her public charity works. |
| Chidambaram Subramaniam (Tamil Nadu) | 1998 | Chidambaram Subramaniam is well known for his contribution to Green Revolution in India. He contributed to the International Rice Research Institute of Manila, Philippines. |
| Jayaprakash Narayan (Bihar) | 1999 | Jayaprakash Narayan is recognized as the Loknayak (People’s Leader). He launched the Total Revolution Movement/ JP Movement against the congress government. |
| Amartya Sen (West Bengal) | 1999 | Amartya Sen is Nobel Laureate in Economic Science. He contributed to welfare economics, social justice in economics, social choice theory, etc. |
| Gopinath Bordoloi (Assam) | 1999 | Gopinath Bordoloi was elected to be the first chief minister of Assam. He is recognized as the Lokapriya in Assam for his dedication to Assam’s development. |
| Ravi Shankar (Uttar Pradesh) | 1999 | Ravi Shankar is recognized as the world’s best exponent of Hindustani Classical Music. He also received the Grammy Award. |
| Lata Mangeshkar (Maharashtra) | 2001 | Lata Mangeshkar is recognized as the Nightingale of India, Voice of Millennium, and Queen of Melody. She was awarded the country’s highest cinema award Dadasaheb Phalke Award. |
| Bismillah Khan (Uttar Pradesh) | 2001 | Bismillah Khan is a celebrated classical shehnai player. He is credited to highlight the shehnai instrument in Indian music. He became the third classical musician who received the Bharat Ratna Award. |
| Bhimsen Joshi (Karnataka) | 2009 | Bhimsen Joshi was a great exponent of Hindustani classical music. He was a disciple of recognized Kirana Gharana. He was well known for his Khyal genre of singing style. |
| C. N. R. Rao (Karnataka) | 2014 | C. N. R. Rao is an eminent chemist who contributed much to solid-state and structural chemistry. He received many awards like Marlow Medal, Hughes Medal, Royal Medal, India Science Award, etc. |
| Sachin Tendulkar (Maharashtra) | 2014 | Sachin Tendulkar is recognized as the Master Blaster in cricket history. He debuted in the international cricket match at the age of 16 years. He is the only batsman to score more than 30,000 runs in entire forms of international cricket matches. |
| Madan Mohan Malaviya (Uttar Pradesh) | 2015 | Madan Mohan Malaviya was the founder of the Banaras Hindu University and Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha. He is recognized as the Mahamana. |
| Atal Bihari Bajpayee (Madhya Pradesh) | 2015 | Atal Bihari Bajpayee was elected to be PM of India three times. He was also awarded the best parliamentarian award in 1994. He was also a great poet. |
| Pranab Mukherjee (West Bengal) | 2019 | Pranab Mukherjee was elected to be the 13th President of India and 14th & 15th Leader of the Lok Sabha. In 2020, he died due to COVID-19. |
| Nanaji Deshmukh (Maharashtra) | 2019 | Nanaji Deshmukh's real name was Chandikadas Amritrao Deshmukh. He contributed to education, rural self-reliance, and health. He served as the leader of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh. |
| Bhupen Hazarika (Assam) | 2019 | Bhupen Hazarika is recognized as the Sudhakantha (Nectar-throated). He was an eminent filmmaker, poet, lyricist, playback singer, and musician. |
| Karpoori Thakur (Bihar)* | 2024 | Karpoori Thakur was the former chief minister of Bihar and he was known as the Jan Nayak. Karpoori Thakur died on 17th February 1988 The award comes 35 years after his death |
| Lal Krishna Advani | 2024 | He was first the Home Minister and later, the Deputy Prime Minister in the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's cabinet from 1999 to 2004 |
| MS Swaminathan (Thiruvananthapuram) | 2024 | Conferred with the Bharat Ratna - the country's highest civilian honour. |
| Chaudhary Charan Singh (Uttar Pradesh)* | 2024 | He dedicated his life to the welfare of farmers. He stood against the Emergency (and) his dedication to our farmer brothers and sisters is inspiring |
| PV Narasimha Rao (Andhra Pradesh) | 2024 | Narasimha Rao is known for shepherding big economic reforms in the 1990s, when he led a Congress government at the Centre. |
First Three Bharat Ratna Award Winners
The inaugural Bharat Ratna awards were presented in 1954 to C. Rajagopalachari, C.V. Raman, and S. Radhakrishnan. All three visionaries shared roots in Tamil Nadu. C. Rajagopalachari was a renowned statesman, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan served as India’s first Vice President and second President, and physicist C.V. Raman achieved global fame for his Raman Effect, becoming the first Asian scientist to win a Nobel Prize in a scientific discipline.
Indian Presidents who Wins Bharat Ratna Award
Throughout the history of the award, several Presidents of India have been honored with the Bharat Ratna. Out of the total list of recipients, 6 Indian Presidents have received this prestigious title. The specific details and years of their conferment are outlined below.
| Bharat Ratna Award by the President | |
| Presidents of India | Year of Award |
| Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan | 1954 |
| Rajendra Prasad | 1962 |
| Zakir Hussain | 1963 |
| A. P. J. Abdul Kalam | 1997 |
| Dr. V V Giri | 1975 |
| Pranab Mukherjee | 2019 |
Benefits & Features of Bharat Ratna
- No cash prize, only a Sanad (certificate) signed by the president and a peepal leaf-shaped bronze medallion with the state emblem and the words “Satyamev Jayate”. No cash prize, only a Sanad (certificate) signed by the president and a peepal leaf-shaped bronze medallion with the state emblem and the words “Satyamev Jayate”.
- No title prefix/suffix – As per Article 18(1) of the Constitution, awardees cannot use “Bharat Ratna” as a prefix or suffix to their names. No title prefix/suffix – As per Article 18(1) of the Constitution, awardees cannot use “Bharat Ratna” as a prefix or suffix to their names.
- Order of precedence – awardees 7th in the Indian order of precedence (along with Cabinet Ministers, Governors etc.) Order of precedence – awardees 7th in the Indian order of precedence (along with Cabinet Ministers, Governors, etc.).
- Tax exemption – any financial awards or pensions associated with the award are exempt from tax.
| Also Read | |
| Dadasaheb Phalke Award Winners List | Indian Nobel Prize Winners List |
| Indian Oscar Winners List | Sahitya Akademi Award Winners List |
Bharat Ratna Award List- FAQ's
Ans. The first recipients of the Bharat Ratna in 1954 were C. Rajagopalachari, C.V. Raman, and S. Radhakrishnan—all of whom were from the state of Tamil Nadu.
Ans. Legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar holds the distinction of being the youngest person to receive the Bharat Ratna, honored in 2014.
Ans. The first three recipients of the Bharat Ratna were C. Rajagopalachari, C.V. Raman, and S. Radhakrishnan, all awarded in the inaugural year of 1954.
Ans. The 2019 recipients of the Bharat Ratna Award were Pranab Mukherjee, Nanaji Deshmukh, and Bhupen Hazarika.
Ans. As of mid-2026, a total of 53 individuals have been honored with the Bharat Ratna Award.
Ans. Lal Bahadur Shastri became the first individual to be honored with the Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1966.
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