| Year | Recipients | About |
| Bharat Ratna 1954 | C. Rajagopalachari | Activist, statesman, and lawyer |
| Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan | India’s first Vice-President and second President | |
| C. V. Raman | Physicists, mathematicians, and scientists | |
| Bharat Ratna 1955 | Bhagwan Das | Activist, philosopher, and educationist |
| M. Visvesvaraya | Civil engineer, statesman, and Diwan of Mysore | |
| Jawaharlal Nehru | Activist and author served as the Prime Minister of India | |
| Bharat Ratna 1957 | Govind Ballabh Pant | Activist and first Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh |
| Bharat Ratna 1958 | Dhondo Keshav Karve | Social reformer and educator |
| Bharat Ratna 1961 | Bidhan Chandra Roy | Physician, political leader, philanthropist, educationist, and social worker |
| Purushottam Das Tandon | Activist and speaker of the United Provinces Legislative Assembly | |
| Bharat Ratna 1962 | Rajendra Prasad | Activist, lawyer, statesman, and scholar |
| Bharat Ratna 1963 | Zakir Husain | Activist, economist, and education philosopher served as a Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University and the Governor of Bihar |
| Pandurang Vaman Kane | Indologist and Sanskrit scholar, known for his five-volume literary work | |
| Bharat Ratna 1966 | Lal Bahadur Shastri | Activist and served as the second Prime Minister of India |
| Bharat Ratna 1971 | Indira Gandhi | First women Prime Minister of India |
| Bharat Ratna 1975 | V. V. Giri | Trade Unionist |
| Bharat Ratna 1976 | K. Kamaraj | Independence activist and statesman, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu |
| Bharat Ratna 1980 | Mother Teresa | Catholic nun and the founder of the Missionaries of Charity. |
| 1983 | Vinoba Bhave | Activist, social reformer, and a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi |
| Bharat Ratna 1987 | Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan | First noncitizen, independence activist |
| Bharat Ratna 1988 | M. G. Ramachandran | Actor turned politician, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu |
| Bharat Ratna 1990 | B.R. Ambedkar | Social reformer and leader of the Dalits |
| Nelson Mandela | Leader of the Anti-Apartheid Movement in South Africa, President of South Africa | |
| Bharat Ratna 1991 | Rajiv Gandhi | Gandhi was the ninth Prime Minister of India serving from 1984 to 1989. |
| Vallabhbhai Patel | Activist and first Deputy Prime Minister of India | |
| Morarji Desai | Activist, and Prime Minister of India | |
| Bharat Ratna 1992 | Abul Kalam Azad | Activist and first Minister of education |
| J. R. D. Tata | Industrialist, philanthropist, and aviation pioneer | |
| Satyajit Ray | Director, filmmaker, writer, novelist | |
| Bharat Ratna 1997 | Gulzarilal Nanda | Activist, and interim Prime Minister of India. |
| Aruna Asaf Ali | Activist | |
| A.P.J Abdul Kalam | Aerospace and defense scientist | |
| Bharat Ratna 1998 | M. S. Subbulakshmi | Carnatic classical vocalist |
| Chidambaram Subramaniam | Activist and former Minister of Agriculture of India | |
| Bharat Ratna 1999 | Jayaprakash Narayan | Activist, and social reformer |
| Amartya Sen | Economist | |
| Gopinath Bordoloi | Activist | |
| Ravi Shankar | Musician, sitar player | |
| Bharat Ratna 2001 | Lata Mangeshkar | Singer |
| Bismillah Khan | Hindustani classical shehnai player | |
| Bharat Ratna 2009 | Bhimsen Joshi | Hindustani classical vocalist |
| Bharat Ratna 2014 | C. N. R. Rao | Chemist and professor, author |
| Sachin Tendulkar | Cricketer | |
| Bharat Ratna 2015 | Madan Mohan Malaviya | Scholar and educational reformer. |
| Atal Bihari Bajpayee | Elected nine times to the Lok Sabha, twice to the Rajya Sabha, and served as the Prime Minister of India for three terms. | |
| Bharat Ratna 2019 | Pranab Mukherjee | Indian politician, and senior leader in the Indian National Congress. |
| Nanaji Deshmukh | A social activist from India, education, health, and rural self-reliance. | |
| Bhupen Hazarika | Indian playback singer, lyricist, musician, singer, poet, and filmmaker from Assam. |
Everything You Need to Know About Bharat Ratna - India's Highest Civilian Award
The Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award in the Republic of India. It is awarded for exceptional service towards advancement of Art, Literature and Science, and in recognition of Public Service of the highest order. It was established on January 2, 1954. The award is conferred "in recognition of exceptional service/performance of the highest order", without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex. The award was originally limited to achievements in the arts, literature, science, and public services, but the government expanded the criteria to include "any field of human endeavor" in December 2011.
The award is presented by the President of India in the name of the President of India. The award ceremony is held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, usually on the Independence Day of India, 15 August, or the Republic Day, 26 January.
The Bharat Ratna awardees receive a Sanad (certificate) signed by the President and a peepal-leaf–shaped medallion; there is no monetary grant associated with the award.
Past recipients of the award include Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, B. R. Ambedkar, Rajendra Prasad, Zakir Hussain, V. V. Giri, J. R. D. Tata, Indira Gandhi, Morarji Desai, Mother Teresa, Amartya Sen, Lata Mangeshkar, Sachin Tendulkar, C. N. R. Rao, and Bismillah Khan among others.
Discover the history and significance of Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award for exceptional service in the fields of art, literature, science and public service. Learn about the award criteria, past recipients and the award ceremony. Get an in-depth understanding of Bharat Ratna and its role in Indian society.
Here is a list of some of the notable recipients of the Bharat Ratna award, along with the year they received the award:
Chakravarti Rajagopalachari - 1954
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan - 1954
C. V. Raman - 1954
Bhagwan Das - 1955
M. Visvesvaraya - 1955
Jawaharlal Nehru - 1955
Govind Ballabh Pant - 1957
Dhondo Keshav Karve - 1958
Bidhan Chandra Roy - 1961
Purushottam Das Tandon - 1961
Rajendra Prasad - 1962
Zakir Hussain - 1963
Pandurang Vaman Kane - 1963
Abul Kalam Azad - 1992
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel - 1991
Morarji Desai - 1991
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad - 1992
B. R. Ambedkar - 1990
Rajiv Gandhi - 1991
Sri Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar - 1992
Sardar Singh - 1991
Satyajit Ray - 1992
Ravi Shankar - 1999
Amartya Sen - 1999
M. S. Subbulakshmi - 1998
Lata Mangeshkar - 2001
Bismillah Khan - 2001
Bhimsen Joshi - 2008
C. N. R. Rao - 2014
Sachin Tendulkar - 2014
Atal Bihari Vajpayee - 2015
Madan Mohan Malaviya - 2015
Visvesvaraya - 2015
Posthumously to R. N. Tagore - 2015
Nanaji Deshmukh - 2017
Bhupen Hazarika - 2019
Pranab Mukherjee - 2019
Nanaji Deshmukh - 2019
Tej Bahadur Sapru - 2019
Dhoni - 2021
This list is not exhaustive and there are many other notable individuals who have received the Bharat Ratna award
The first Bharat Ratna award was presented in the year 1954, the recipients of the first Bharat Ratna award are Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and C. V. Raman.
The youngest recipient of Bharat Ratna award is Sachin Tendulkar. He was awarded Bharat Ratna in 2014, at the age of 40 years. Tendulkar is a former Indian cricketer and considered one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He was awarded for his outstanding contribution to Indian cricket.
The first woman to receive the Bharat Ratna award was M. S. Subbulakshmi. She was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1998 for her outstanding contributions to the field of music. Subbulakshmi was an Indian Carnatic singer from Madurai, Tamil Nadu. She was the first musician ever to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honor.
Bharat Ratna: A Complete Guide to India's Highest Civilian Award - History, Criteria, Recipients, and Significance"