Bharat Ratna Award Winner List (1954–2024) : The Bharat Ratna Award, India’s highest civilian honor initiated in 1954, recognizes individuals of exceptional merit in public service or outstanding achievements in fields like literature, science, arts, or other impactful domains. Up to three recipients can be honored in a single year, chosen without any bias towards caste, creed, occupation, religion, language, or gender. Below, you’ll find a comprehensive list detailing the recipients of the Bharat Ratna Award from 1954 to 2024, along with key highlights showcasing their significant contributions.
The First Bharat Ratna award was conferred in 1954 upon three eminent individuals: Politician C. Rajagopalachari, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and Scientist CV Raman.
Bharat Ratna Award Winner List (1954–2024)
| Recipient | Year | Key Notes |
| C. Rajagopalachari | 1954 | Last Governor General of India |
| Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan | 1954 | Second President of India |
| C. V. Raman | 1954 | Physicist known for Raman Effect in light scattering |
| Bhagwan Das | 1955 | Freedom fighter and philosopher |
| M. Visvesvaraya | 1955 | Contributed to the country’s dam development as a civil engineer |
| Jawaharlal Nehru | 1955 | The First and longest-tenured Prime Minister of India |
| Govind Ballabh Pant | 1957 | First chief minister of Uttar Pradesh |
| Dhondo Keshav Karve | 1958 | Social reformer |
| Bidhan Chandra Roy | 1961 | Physician, philanthropist, social worker |
| Purushottam Das Tandon | 1961 | Titled Rajarshi; supported making Hindi the official language |
| Rajendra Prasad | 1962 | First President of India |
| Zakir Husain | 1963 | Second Vice President and third President of India |
| Pandurang Vaman Kane | 1963 | Indologist and Sanskrit scholar |
| Lal Bahadur Shastri | 1966 | First posthumous recipient; second Prime Minister of India; known for the slogan ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’ |
| Indira Gandhi | 1971 | First female recipient |
| V. V. Giri | 1975 | First acting President of India; fourth President |
| K. Kamaraj | 1976 | Independence activist, Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Recognized as the King Maker |
| Mother Teresa | 1980 | Founded Missionaries of Charity |
| Vinoba Bhave | 1983 | Follower of Gandhism |
| Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan | 1987 | Known as Frontier Gandhi |
| M. G. Ramachandran | 1988 | First actor Bharat Ratna recipient, Chief Minister of a state |
| B.R. Ambedkar | 1990 | Chief architect of Indian Constitution |
| Rajiv Gandhi | 1991 | Youngest Indian PM |
| Vallabhbhai Patel | 1991 | First Deputy Prime Minister |
| Morarji Desai | 1991 | First non-Congress Prime Minister |
| Abul Kalam Azad | 1992 | First Education Minister |
| J. R. D. Tata | 1992 | Industrialist, founded Air India and various institutes |
| Satyajit Ray | 1992 | Renowned filmmaker |
| Gulzarilal Nanda | 1997 | Interim PM of India |
| Aruna Asaf Ali | 1997 | First Mayor of Delhi post-independence |
| A.P.J Abdul Kalam | 1997 | Missile Man of India and 11th President |
| M. S. Subbulakshmi | 1998 | Carnatic vocalist, Queen of Songs |
| Chidambaram Subramaniam | 1998 | Contributed to Green Revolution, IRRI |
| Jayaprakash Narayan | 1999 | Loknayak |
| Amartya Sen | 1999 | Nobel Laureate in Economics |
| Gopinath Bordoloi | 1999 | First Chief Minister of Assam |
| Ravi Shankar | 1999 | Renowned Hindustani Classical Music exponent, Grammy winner |
| Lata Mangeshkar | 2001 | Nightingale of India, received Dadasaheb Phalke Award |
| Bismillah Khan | 2001 | Celebrated shehnai player, contributed to highlighting shehnai |
| Bhimsen Joshi | 2009 | Renowned Hindustani classical vocalist, known for Khyal singing |
| C. N. R. Rao | 2014 | Eminent chemist, contributions to solid-state and structural chem |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 2014 | Cricket legend, Master Blaster, only batsman with 30,000+ runs |
| Madan Mohan Malaviya | 2015 | Founder of Banaras Hindu University, known as Mahamana |
| Atal Bihari Bajpayee | 2015 | Elected Prime Minister of India Three-times |
| Pranab Mukherjee | 2019 | 13th President of India |
| Nanaji Deshmukh | 2019 | Contributed to education, rural self-reliance and health |
| Bhupen Hazarika | 2019 | Filmmaker, poet, musician |
| Karpoori thakur | 2024 | Former Bihar Chief Minister Awarded posthumously |
| LK Advani | 2024 | Deputy Prime Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and heading various ministries, |
| PV Narasimha Rao | 2024 | 10th Prime Minister of India from June 21,1991 to May 16,1996 |
| Chaudhary Charan Singh | 2024 | Former Prime Minister from July 28, 1979 to January 14, 1980 |
| Dr. MS Swaminathan | 2024 | Father of Green Revolution in India |
Who was awarded Bharat Ratna in 2024?
Rashtrapati Bhavan Announced On Tuesday 23rd January 2024 that Karpoori Thakur, Known As “Jannayak”, will Be Awarded the Bharat Ratna Award. He Served as Bihar’s Chief Minister From December 1970 To June 1971 And From December 1977 To April 1979. Award.
He Passed Away On Feb 17,1988
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