Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award of the Government of India established on 2 January 1954.
The Bharat Ratna award is given to a recipient with the highest service/performance on the top order in a field.
Previously the award was given in the field of arts, literature, science and public services but later the Government of India extended it to “any field of human endeavour” in December 2011. The Bharat Ratna award is recommended by the Prime Minister of India to the President of India.
Each year the award can be given to a maximum 3 recipients. Though the award does not have any monetary prize, a Sanad (certificate) signed by the president and a peepal leaf-shaped medallion is given to the recipients.
The rank of the award is compared to Padma Vibhushan.
In various competitive exams, Bharat Ratna Award recipients are an important topic in the Gk section. So, if you are a Govt. exam aspirant here is the list of Bharat Ratna Award Recipients below.
List of recipients of Bharat Ratna Award
| Year | Name | Misc |
| 1954 | Chakravarti Rajgopalachari | Independence activist The last Governor-General of India served from 1948 to 1950 |
| Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan | The First Vice-President of India served from 1952 to 1962 Teachers Day celebrated on his birthday | |
| Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (C.V. Raman) | Physicist known for Raman scattering and Raman spectroscopy Nobel Prize Winners (Physics) in 1930 | |
| 1955 | Bhagwan Das | Indian independence activist, theosophist and educationist Co-founder of Kashi Vidyapith Participate to establish Banaras Hindu University |
| M. Visvesvaraya | A civil engineer and statesman Engineer’s Day celebrated on his birthday in India on the 15th of September | |
| Jawaharlal Nehru | India independence activist and politician The first Prime Minister of India served from 1947 to 1964 | |
| 1957 | Govind Ballabh Pant | Indian independence activist and politician First chief minister of Uttar Pradesh |
| 1958 | Dhondo Keshav Karve | A social reformer and educator works for women welfare |
| 1961 | Bidhan Chandra Roy | A physician, politician and educationist. The second Chief Minister of West Bengal served from 1948 to 1962 On his birthday on July 1, National Doctors Day celebrated in India |
| Purushottam Das Tandon | Indian independence activist and politician Active participants to get Hindi as the official language of India | |
| 1962 | Rajendra Prasad | Indian Independence activist, lawyer and statesman The first President of India served from 1950 to 1962 |
| 1963 | Zakir Hussain | Indian independence activist and philosopher The third President of India served from 1967 to 1969 |
| Pandurang Vaman Kane | Indologist and Sanskrit scholar | |
| 1966 | Lal Bahadur Shastri | Indian independence activist The second Prime Minister of India served from 1964 to 1966 |
| 1971 | Indira Gandhi | Prime Minister of India served 1966-77 and 1980-84 |
| 1975 | V. V. Giri | Indian independence activist The fourth President of India served from 1969 to 1974 |
| 1976 | K. Kamaraj | Indian independence activist, freedom fighter and politician Leader of the Indian National Congress |
| 1980 | Mother Teresa | A Catholic nun Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1979 |
| 1983 | Vinoba Bhave | Indian independence activist, socialist Ramon Magsaysay Award winner in 1958) |
| 1987 | Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan | Indian independence activist |
| 1988 | M. G. Ramachandran | Actor and politician Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu served from 1977 to 1987 |
| 1990 | B. R. Ambedkar | Socialist, lawyer and a Dalit leader Head of the drafting committee for the Indian Constitution |
| Nelson Mandela | Leader of the Anti-Apartheid Movement President of South Africa served from 1994 to 1999 Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1993 | |
| 1991 | Rajiv Gandhi | 6th Prime Minister of India served from 1984 to 1989 |
| Vallabhbhai Patel | First Deputy Prime Minister of India Known as the “Iron Man of India” | |
| Morarji Desai | The fourth Prime Minister of India served from 1977 to 1979 | |
| 1992 | J. R. D. Tata | Businessman, philanthropist Chairman of Tata Group |
| Satyajit Ray | IndIndian Filmmaker, director, screenwriter, author, lyricist, composer DadaDada Saheb Phalke Award winner in 1984 | |
| 1997 | Gulzarilal Nanda | Indian independence activist and politician The interim Prime Minister of India served from 1964 and 1966 |
| Aruna Asaf Ali | First Mayor of Delhi in 1958 | |
| A. P. J. Abdul Kalam | Aerospace scientist, known as the “Missile Man of India” The 11th President of India served from 2002 to 2007 Director of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) | |
| 1998 | M. S. Subbulakshmi | Indian Carnatic classical vocalist |
| Chidambaram Subramaniam | Indian independence activist and politician Participate in the Green Revolution in India | |
| 1999 | Jayaprakash Narayan | Indian independence activist and socialist |
| Amartya Sen | Indian economist Nobel memorial prize Winner in economic sciences in 1998 | |
| Gopinath Bordoloi | Independence activist and politician The first chief minister of Assam served from 1946 to 1950 | |
| Ravi Shankar | Indian musician and sitar player | |
| 2001 | Lata Mangeshkar | Playback singer, popularly known as the “nightingale of India” Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner in 1989 |
| Bismillah Khan | Indian classical shehnai player | |
| 2008 | Bhimsen Joshi | Classical vocalist |
| 2014 | C. N. R. Rao (Chemist) | Chemist, scientist specializing in Solid-state chemistry |
| Sachin Tendulkar (Cricketer) | One of the greatest batsman in Cricket History | |
| 2015 | Madan Mohan Malaviya | Scholar, educationalist, politician |
| Atal Bihari Vajpayee | Served three terms as the Prime Minister of India: 1996, 1998 and from 1999 to 2004 | |
| 2019 | Pranab Mukherjee | The 13th President of India served from 2012 until 2017 |
| Bhupen Hazarika | Indian playback singer, lyricist, musician, poet and film-maker | |
| Nanaji Deshmukh | Social activist and politician | |
| 2024 | Karpoori Thakur | Chief Minister of Bihar, Served two terms; from 1970 to 1971, and from 1977 to 1979. |
| L. K. Advani | The 7th Deputy Prime Minister of India served from 2002 to 2004. Co-founders of Bharatiya Janata Party. | |
| P. V. Narasimha Rao | 9th prime minister of India served from 1991 to 1996 | |
| Charan Singh | 5th prime minister of India served from 1979 to 1980 | |
| M. S. Swaminathan | Scientist and leader of the green revolution in India |
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