The Bharat Ratna is India’s highest civilian award, instituted on January 2, 1954, to honor exceptional service in any field of human endeavor. The award is conferred by the President of India based on recommendations from the Prime Minister, and recipients receive a certificate (Sanad) and a medallion shaped like a peepal leaf.
As of 2024, there have been a total of 53 recipients, with five awarded in that year alone. The Bharat Ratna does not come with any monetary grant and ranks seventh in the Indian order of precedence.
| Name (Year, State) | Field/Contribution |
|---|---|
| C. Rajagopalachari (1954, Tamil Nadu) | Indian independence activist, last Governor-General of India. |
| Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1954, Tamil Nadu) | Philosopher, India’s first Vice President, and second President. |
| C.V. Raman (1954, Tamil Nadu) | Physicist known for the discovery of the “Raman Effect.” |
| Bhagwan Das (1955, Uttar Pradesh) | Freedom fighter and educationist. |
| Jawaharlal Nehru (1955, Uttar Pradesh) | First Prime Minister of India, key figure in India’s independence movement. |
| M. Visvesvaraya (1955, Karnataka) | Eminent engineer and statesman. |
| Govind Ballabh Pant (1957, Uttarakhand) | Freedom fighter and key political leader in Uttar Pradesh. |
| Dhondo Keshav Karve (1958, Maharashtra) | Social reformer, known for his work in women’s education and remarriage. |
| Bidhan Chandra Roy (1961, West Bengal) | Physician, freedom fighter, and former Chief Minister of West Bengal. |
| Purushottam Das Tandon (1961, Uttar Pradesh) | Freedom fighter and proponent of Hindi as a national language. |
| Rajendra Prasad (1962, Bihar) | First President of India, lawyer, and freedom fighter. |
| Zakir Husain (1963, Telangana) | Educationist and India’s third President. |
| Pandurang Vaman Kane (1963, Maharashtra) | Sanskrit scholar and authority on ancient Hindu law and customs. |
| Lal Bahadur Shastri (1966, Uttar Pradesh) | Second Prime Minister of India, known for “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan.” |
| Indira Gandhi (1971, Uttar Pradesh) | First woman Prime Minister of India. |
| V.V. Giri (1975, Odisha) | Fourth President of India and trade unionist. |
| K. Kamaraj (1976, Tamil Nadu) | Freedom fighter and Congress leader. |
| Mother Teresa (1980, West Bengal) | Missionary, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and humanitarian. |
| Vinoba Bhave (1983, Maharashtra) | Gandhian, known for the Bhoodan Movement (land reform). |
| Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) | Freedom fighter, also known as “Frontier Gandhi.” |
| M.G. Ramachandran (1988, Tamil Nadu) | Actor, politician, and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. |
| B.R. Ambedkar (1990, Maharashtra) | Architect of the Indian Constitution and Dalit rights leader. |
| Nelson Mandela (1990, South Africa) | South African anti-apartheid revolutionary and Nobel Peace Prize winner. |
| Rajiv Gandhi (1991, Uttar Pradesh) | Former Prime Minister of India, promoted technology and liberalization. |
| Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (1991, Gujarat) | Freedom fighter and India’s first Deputy Prime Minister. |
| Morarji Desai (1991, Gujarat) | India’s first non-Congress Prime Minister. |
| Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (1992, West Bengal) | Freedom fighter and first Minister of Education. |
| J.R.D. Tata (1992, Maharashtra) | Industrialist and founder of Air India. |
| Satyajit Ray (1992, West Bengal) | Renowned filmmaker and cultural icon. |
| A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (1997, Tamil Nadu) | Scientist and 11th President of India, known as the “Missile Man.” |
| Gulzarilal Nanda (1997, Haryana) | Former Interim Prime Minister of India. |
| Aruna Asaf Ali (1997, Haryana) | Freedom fighter and organizer of the Quit India Movement. |
| M.S. Subbulakshmi (1998, Tamil Nadu) | Carnatic singer and musician. |
| Chidambaram Subramaniam (1998, Tamil Nadu) | Architect of India’s Green Revolution. |
| Jayaprakash Narayan (1999, Bihar) | Socialist and Gandhian leader. |
| Amartya Sen (1999, West Bengal) | Economist and Nobel laureate. |
| Gopinath Bordoloi (1999, Assam) | Freedom fighter and first Chief Minister of Assam. |
| Ravi Shankar (1999, Uttar Pradesh) | Renowned sitar maestro. |
| Lata Mangeshkar (2001, Maharashtra) | Legendary playback singer. |
| Bismillah Khan (2001, Uttar Pradesh) | Shehnai maestro and cultural icon. |
| Bhimsen Joshi (2008, Karnataka) | Hindustani classical vocalist. |
| C.N.R. Rao (2014, Karnataka) | Chemist and researcher in solid-state and structural chemistry. |
| Sachin Tendulkar (2014, Maharashtra) | Legendary cricketer, first sportsperson to receive the Bharat Ratna. |
| Pranab Mukherjee (2019, West Bengal) | Former President of India. |
| Nanaji Deshmukh (2019, Maharashtra) | Social reformer and leader in rural development. |
| Bhupen Hazarika (2019, Assam) | Singer, poet, and cultural icon from Assam. |
| Karpoori Thakur (2024, Bihar) | Politician and two-time Chief Minister of Bihar; introduced the reservation policy in state government jobs (1978). |
| L. K. Advani (2024, Delhi) | 7th Deputy Prime Minister (2002–2004), co-founder of BJP, key figure in the Ram Janmabhoomi Movement. |
| P. V. Narasimha Rao (2024, Telangana) | 9th Prime Minister (1991–1996), known for liberal economic reforms; first PM from South India. |
| Charan Singh (2024, Uttar Pradesh) | Independence activist, 5th Prime Minister (1979–1980), champion of India’s peasants, credited with radical land reforms. |
| M. S. Swaminathan (2024, Tamil Nadu) | Agronomist, geneticist, leader of the Green Revolution in India, developed high-yielding wheat and rice varieties. |