Bharat Ratna Winners List (1954-2024)

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Published Sep 18, 2026 Updated Sep 18, 2026 1 min read

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Name	Bharat Ratna
Award For	Exceptional service/performance of the highest order
Award By	Goverment of India
First Award	1954
First Awardee	C. Rajagopalachari, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, C. V. Raman
Last Award	2024
Last Awardee	M. S. Swaminathan, Charan Singh, P. V. Narasimha Rao, L. K. Advani, Karpoori Thakur
Total Awarded	53
Status	active
Official URL	https://brs.inc/

About Bharat Ratna

The Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conferred in recognition of "exceptional service/performance of the highest order", without distinction of race, occupation, position or gender.

Bharat Ratna (1954-2024) Winners List

This Winners List features 53 winners of the Bharat Ratna, from 1954 to 2024.

Image	Year	Recipient Name	Date of Birth	Date of Death	Profession	Country

	2024	Dr. Monkombu Sambasiva Swaminathan	1925-08-07	2023-09-28	Agricultural scientist and geneticist	India
Swaminathan was an Indian agronomist, geneticist and administrator, who was as a global leader of the green revolution. He was one of the major architects of green revolution in India known for his leadership and role in introducing and further developing high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice.
	2024	Lal Kishinchand Advani Also won: Padma Vibhushan (2015)	1927-11-08		Politician; former Deputy Prime Minister of India	India
Advani is a politician who served as the 7th Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004. He is one of the co-founders of Bharatiya Janata Party and is credited with scripting the rise of the BJP as a major political force through the Ram Janmabhoomi Movement. He is popularly known as "Loh Purush" (Iron Man).
	2024	Chaudhary Charan Singh	1902-12-23	1987-05-29	Politician, peasant leader, author	India
Charan Singh was an Indian politician and a independence activist who served as the 5th prime minister from 1979 to 1980. He is known as the "Champion of India's peasants". He is credited for bringing radical land reform measures and bringing uniformity in the farm sector. These reforms were implemented through the Debt Redemption Bill, the Land Holding Act, and the Zamindari Abolition Act. He was the founder of the political party Lokdal in 1980.
	2024	Karpoori Thakur	1924-01-24	1988-02-17	Politician (Chief Minister of Bihar)	India
Thakur was a politician, who served two terms as the 11th Chief Minister of Bihar, from 1970 to 1971, and from 1977 to 1979. In 1978, he introduced the reservation policy in state government jobs.
	2024	P. V. Narasimha Rao	1921-06-28	2004-12-23	Politician, scholar (Prime Minister of India)	India
Narasimha Rao, was an Indian lawyer and politician who served as the 9th prime minister from 1991 to 1996. He was the first Prime Minister from South India. He is known for introducing various liberal reforms to India's economy.
	2019	Pranab Mukherjee Also won: Padma Vibhushan (2008) , Lokmanya Tilak National Award (2009)	1935-12-11	2020-08-31	Politician; 13th President of India	India
Mukherjee was a politician who served as the 13th President of India from 2012 until 2017. In a career spanning five decades, Mukherjee had been a leader of the Indian National Congress and had occupied several ministerial portfolios in the Government of India. Prior to his election as President, he was finance minister from 2009 to 2012.
	2019	Dr. Bhupendra Kumar Hazarika	1926-09-08	2011-11-05	Singer, lyricist, musician, poet, filmmaker	India
Hazarika was a playback singer, lyricist, musician, poet and film-maker, widely known as Sudhakantha. His songs, written and sung mainly in the Assamese language by himself, are themed around universal justice and peace and have been translated and sung in many languages.
	2019	Nanaji Deshmukh Also won: Padma Vibhushan (1999)	1916-10-11	2010-02-27	Social activist, politician	India
Deshmukh was a social activist and politician, who worked in the fields of education, health, and rural self-reliance. He was a leader of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and also served as a member of the Rajya Sabha.
	2015	Atal Bihari Vajpayee Also won: Padma Vibhushan (1992) , Lokmanya Tilak National Award (1994)	1924-12-25	2018-08-16	Politician; Prime Minister of India	India
Vajpayee was a politician, who served as the Prime Minister of India three times in 1996, 1998 and from 1999 to 2004. He was a parliamentarian for over four decades and was elected nine times to the Lok Sabha, twice to the Rajya Sabha, also serving as the minister of external affairs during 1977–79.
	2015	Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya	1861-12-25	1946-11-12	Educationist, lawyer, freedom fighter	India
Malaviya was a scholar and educational reformer, who founded the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha (1906) and Banaras Hindu University, while serving as the university's vice-chancellor from 1919 until 1938. He was the President of Indian National Congress for four terms and was the chairman of Hindustan Times from 1924 to 1946.
	2014	Prof. Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao Also won: Padma Vibhushan (1985) , Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (1968)	1934-06-30		Chemist (solid-state and materials chemistry)	India
Rao is a chemist and a scientist specializing in solid state chemistry. He has honorary doctorates from 86 universities and has authored around 1,800 research publications and 56 books.
	2014	Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar Also won: Padma Vibhushan (2008)	1973-04-24		Cricketer	India
Tendulkar is a cricketer, who is regarded as one of the greatest batters of all-time. Having debuted in 1989, Tendulkar played 664 international cricket matches, scoring more than 34,000 in a career spanning over two decades and holds various cricket records.
	2009	Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi Also won: Padma Bhushan (1985) , Padma Vibhushan (1999)	1922-02-04	2011-01-24	Hindustani classical vocalist (Kirana gharana)	India
Joshi was a Hindustani classical vocalist, who was a disciple of Kirana gharana and is widely known for the Khyal genre of singing.
	2001	Kum. Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar Also won: Padma Bhushan (1969) , Padma Vibhushan (1999)	1929-09-28	2022-02-06	Playback singer	India
Mangeshkar was a playback singer, known as the "nightingale of India". She started her career in the 1940s and has sung songs in over 36 languages. In 1989, Mangeshkar was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in cinema.
	2001	Bismillah Khan Also won: Padma Bhushan (1968) , Padma Vibhushan (1980)	1916-03-21	2006-08-21	Shehnai player, Hindustani classical musician	India
Khan was a Hindustani classical shehnai player, who played the instrument for more than eight decades and is credited to have brought the instrument to the centre stage of Indian music.
	1999	Ravi Shankar Also won: Padma Bhushan (1967) , Padma Vibhushan (1981) , Ramon Magsaysay Award (1992)	1920-04-07	2012-12-11	Sitarist and composer	India
Ravi Shankar was a musician and sitar player. He has won four Grammy Awards and is often considered "the world's best-known exponent of Hindustani classical music".
	1999	Prof. Amartya Sen	1933-11-03		Economist, philosopher	India
Sen is an economist and the winner of the Nobel memorial prize in economic sciences in 1998.
	1999	Late Gopinath Bordoloi	1890-06-06	1950-08-05	Politician, freedom fighter (Chief Minister of Assam)	India
Bordoloi was an independence activist and politician, who served as the first chief minister of Assam (1946 to 1950). His was instrumental in uniting Assam with India when parts of it wanted to accede to Pakistan.
	1999	Jayaprakash Narayan Also won: Ramon Magsaysay Award (1965)	1902-10-11	1979-10-08	Indian independence activist, social and political reformer	India
A leading freedom-movement figure who later championed Gandhian Sarvodaya and panchayat raj (village self-governance), promoting nonviolent social transformation. He later led the 1974-75 Total Revolution movement against Indira Gandhi's government. Won the 1965 Magsaysay Award for Public Service for his constructive articulation of a public conscience for modern India.
	1998	Madurai Shanmugavadivu Subbalakshmi Also won: Padma Bhushan (1954) , Padma Vibhushan (1975) , Ramon Magsaysay Award (1974)	1916-09-16	2004-12-11	Carnatic classical vocalist	India
Subbulakshmi was a Carnatic classical vocalist, known for her songs, religious chantings and compositions. She was the first Indian musician to receive the Ramon Magsaysay award for her public service.
	1998	Chidambaram Subramaniam	1910-01-30	2000-11-07	Politician, freedom fighter (Union Minister)	India
Subramaniam was an independence activist and politician, who served as the minister of agriculture from 1964 to 1966 and later as minister of finance and defence. He is known for his contribution towards the Green Revolution in India.
	1997	Avul Pakir Jinalabdeen Abdul Kalam Also won: Padma Bhushan (1981) , Padma Vibhushan (1990)	1931-10-15	2015-07-27	Aerospace scientist; 11th President of India	India
Kalam was an aerospace and defence scientist, who later served as the eleventh President of India from 2002 until 2007. He was involved in the development of India's first satellite launch vehicle SLV III and the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program, while working for various space and defence research agencies and has served as the scientific advisor to the defence minister, Secretary for defence research and director of Defence Research and Development Organisation.
	1997	Gulzari Lal Nanda Also won: Padma Vibhushan (1991)	1898-07-04	1998-01-15	Politician; interim Prime Minister of India	India
Nanda was an independence activist and politician, who served as the interim Prime Minister of India in 1964 and 1966 and as the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission.
	1997	Aruna Asaf Ali Also won: Padma Vibhushan (1992)	1909-07-16	1996-07-29	Freedom fighter, political activist, publisher	India
Ali was an independence activist, known for hoisting the tricolor flag of India in Bombay during the Quit India Movement in 1942. Post Independence, she was elected as Delhi's first mayor in 1958.
	1992	Satyajit Ray Also won: Padma Bhushan (1965) , Padma Vibhushan (1976) , Ramon Magsaysay Award (1967)	1921-05-02	1992-04-23	Filmmaker, director, and writer	India
Ray was a film director. He directed his first film Pather Panchali in 1955 and is credited with bringing world recognition to Indian cinema. In 1984, Ray was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in cinema and in 1991, he received Academy Honorary Award.
	1992	Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata Also won: Padma Vibhushan (1955)	1904-07-29	1993-11-29	Industrialist and aviation pioneer	India
Tata was an industrialist, philanthropist, and aviation pioneer, who served as the chairman of the business conglomerate Tata Group. He is the founder of various educational and research institutes and businesses.
	1992	Maulana Abul Kalam Azad	1888-11-11	1958-02-22	Freedom fighter, scholar, politician	India
Azad was an independence activist and politician, who served as the first education minister of India. His birthday on 11 November is observed annually as the National Education Day in India.
	1991	Rajiv Gandhi Also won: Indira Gandhi Prize (1991)	1944-08-20	1991-05-21	Politician (Prime Minister of India)	India
Rajiv Gandhi was a pilot turned politician, who served as the sixth Prime Minister of India serving from 1984 to 1989.
	1991	Morarji Ranchhodji Desai	1896-02-29	1995-04-10	Politician, freedom fighter (Prime Minister of India)	India
Desai was an independence activist and politician, who served as the fourth Prime Minister of India from 1977 to 1979 and was the first to be not from the Indian National Congress. He was also awarded the Nishan-e-Pakistan, the second highest civilian award given by the Government of Pakistan. Desai had earlier abolished the awards while he was in the office of Prime Minister for it being "worthless and politicised".
	1991	Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel	1875-10-31	1950-12-15	Independence activist, statesman	India
Patel was an independence activist, who served as the first Deputy Prime Minister of India (1947 to 1950) and home minister. Patel was known as the "Iron Man of India" and by the title of "Sardar" ("Leader") Patel and was instrumental in the accession of the princely states into the Indian union.
	1990	Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar	1891-04-14	1956-12-06	Jurist, economist, social reformer, politician	India
Ambedkar was a social reformer, lawyer and a Dalit leader, who headed the committee drafting the Indian Constitution while also serving as the first Law Minister of India later. Ambedkar campaigned against the social discrimination of Dalits and the caste system in India. He was associated with the Dalit Buddhist movement after converting to Buddhism on 14 October 1956.
	1990	Dr. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela	1918-07-18	2013-12-05	Statesman, anti-apartheid revolutionary	South Africa
Mandela was the leader of the Anti-Apartheid Movement in South Africa and later served as the President of South Africa (1994 to 1999). Often called as the "Gandhi of South Africa", Mandela's African National Congress movement was influenced by Gandhian philosophy. In 1993, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
	1988	Manidur Gopalan Ramachandran	1917-01-17	1987-12-24	Actor, film producer, politician	India
M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R.), the first actor to become the chief minister in the Republic of India, served as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for over ten years, between 1977 and 1987. Considered one of the greatest political leaders and actors of the state, his followers idolize him as "Puratchi Thalaivar" (Revolutionary Leader). He is the founder of the Indian political party All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
	1987	Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan Also won: Lokmanya Tilak National Award (1988)	1890-02-06	1988-01-20	Independence activist, political leader	Pakistan
Khan was a independence activist, a follower of Mahatma Gandhi and an advocate of Hindu–Muslim unity in the subcontinent. He was known as "Frontier Gandhi" and was part of the Khilafat Movement in 1920 and founded the Khudai Khidmatgar ("Red Shirt movement") in 1929.
	1983	Acharya Vinoba Bhave Also won: Ramon Magsaysay Award (1958)	1895-09-11	1982-11-15	Indian social reformer, philosopher, and advocate of nonviolence	India
A close associate of Mahatma Gandhi, Bhave founded the Bhoodan ("land-gift") movement, walking across India to persuade wealthy landowners to voluntarily donate land to the poor and landless. He became the first-ever recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in 1958, honored for pioneering this grassroots, nonviolent approach to land reform and social transformation.
	1980	Mother Teresa Also won: Ramon Magsaysay Award (1962)	1910-08-26	1997-09-05	Catholic nun, missionary, founder of Missionaries of Charity	India
Mother Teresa was a Catholic nun and founder of the Missionaries of Charity, a religious congregation, which manages homes for diseased people. She was the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work in 1979. She was beatified on 19 October 2003 by Pope John Paul II and canonised on 4 September 2016 by Pope Francis.
	1976	Kumaraswamy Kamraj	1903-07-15	1975-10-02	Politician, freedom fighter, Chief Minister	India
Kamaraj was an independence activist, freedom fighter, and politician who served as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for over nine years, between 1954 and 1963. He was known as the "King Maker", as he was the president of the Indian National Congress, when electing Lal Bahadur Shastri the prime minister after Nehru's death and Indira Gandhi after Shastri's death, his followers idolized him as "Perunthalaivar" (Great Leader). He is the founder of the Indian political party Indian National Congress (Organisation).
	1975	Varahagiri Venkata Giri	1894-08-10	1980-06-24	Lawyer, trade unionist, statesman, President of India	India
Giri was an independence activist, who organized trade unions and facilitated their participation in the fight for independence. Post-independence, Giri held positions of Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Mysore state and other cabinet ministries. He became the first acting president and was eventually elected as the fourth President of India, serving from 1969 to 1974.
	1971	Indira Gandhi Also won: Lokmanya Tilak National Award (1985)	1917-11-19	1984-10-31	Politician, Prime Minister of India	India
Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister of India during 1966 to 1977 and 1980 to 1984. She is known as the "Iron Lady of India", as she led India during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and the concurrent Bangladesh Liberation War which led to the formation of Bangladesh.
	1966	Lal Bahadur Shastri	1904-10-02	1966-01-11	Politician, Prime Minister of India	India
Shastri was an independence activist, known for his slogan "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan" ("Hail to the Soldier, hail to the Farmer"). He served as second Prime Minister of India (1964–66) and led the country during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.
	1963	Dr. Zakir Husain Also won: Padma Vibhushan (1954)	1897-02-08	1969-05-03	Educationist, philosopher; 3rd President of India	India
Husain was an independence activist and philosopher, who served as the Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University (1948–56) and the Governor of Bihar (1957–62). Later, he was elected as second vice-president of India (1962–67) and went on to become the third President of India (1967–69).
	1963	Dr. Pandurang Vaman Kane Also won: Sahitya Akademi Award (1956)	1880-05-07	1972-04-18	Indologist, Sanskrit scholar, historian, lawyer	India
Kane was an indologist and Sanskrit scholar, known for his five volume literary work, History of Dharmaśāstra: Ancient and Medieval Religious and Civil Law in India.
	1962	Dr. Rajendra Prasad	1884-12-03	1963-02-28	Lawyer, freedom fighter, first President of India	India
Prasad was an independence activist, lawyer and statesman, who was associated with Mahatma Gandhi in the Champaran Satyagraha in Bihar and non-cooperation movement. Became the president of Constituent Assembly of India. He was later elected as the first President of India (1950–62).
	1961	Bidhan Chandra Roy	1882-07-01	1962-07-01	Physician, politician, first Chief Minister of West Bengal	India
Roy was a physician, politician and educationist. He served as the second Chief Minister of West Bengal from 1948 to 1962 and is known as the "Maker of Modern West Bengal". His birthday on 1 July is observed annually as the National Doctors' Day in India.
	1961	Purushottam Das Tandon	1882-08-01	1962-07-01	Freedom fighter, politician, Hindi language advocate	India
Tandon was an independence activist and politician, who served as the speaker of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from 1937 to 1950. He was actively involved in a campaign to get official language status to Hindi.
	1958	Dr. Dhondo Keshav Karve Also won: Padma Vibhushan (1955)	1858-04-18	1962-11-09	Social reformer, educationist	India
Karve was a social reformer and educator, known for his work on education for women and remarriage of Hindu widows. He established the Widow Marriage Association (1883), Hindu Widows Home (1896), and started Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey Women's University in 1916.
	1957	Govind Ballabh Pant	1887-09-10	1961-03-07	Freedom fighter, politician, first Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh	India
Pant was an independence activist and politician, who served as the premier of United Provinces (1937 to 1939, 1946 to 1950) and as the first chief minister of Uttar Pradesh from 1950 to 1954. He served as Union Home Minister from 1955 to 1961.
	1955	Dr. Bhagwan Das	1869-01-12	1958-09-18	Philosopher, theosophist, educationist, freedom fighter	India
Bhagwan Das was an independence activist, theosophist and educationist. He co-founded Kashi Vidyapith and worked with Madan Mohan Malaviya to establish the Banaras Hindu University.
	1955	Jawaharlal Nehru	1889-11-14	1964-05-27	Lawyer, freedom fighter, first Prime Minister of India	India
Nehru was an independence activist and politician, who was the first and the longest-serving Prime Minister of India from 1947 to 1964.
	1955	Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya	1861-09-15	1962-04-14	Civil engineer, statesman, Diwan of Mysore	India
Visvesvaraya was a civil engineer and statesman. He served as the 19th Diwan of Mysore from 1912 to 1918. His birthday, 15 September, is observed annually as Engineer's Day in India.
	1954	Chakravarti Rajagopalachari Also won: Sahitya Akademi Award (1958)	1878-12-10	1972-12-25	Statesman, lawyer, writer, freedom fighter	India
Rajagopalachari was an independence activist, who served as the last Governor-General of India from 1948 to 1950. Earlier, he served as the first governor of West Bengal in 1947 to 1948. He was the home minister in the first Nehru cabinet succeeding Sardar Vallabhai Patel in 1950. He served as the chief minister of Madras Presidency from 1937 to 1939 and later as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu between 1952 and 1954. He founded the Swatantra Party in 1959.
	1954	Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman	1888-11-07	1970-11-21	Physicist	India
Raman was a physicist known for his work in the field of light scattering. He is known for the discovery of Raman scattering and Raman spectroscopy and was presented the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930.
	1954	Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan	1888-09-05	1975-04-17	Philosopher, academic, statesman	India
Radhakrishnan served as the first Vice-President of India from 1952 to 1962 and as the second President of India from 1962 to 1967. Since 1962, his birthday of 5 September is observed annually as Teachers' Day in India.