List of Bharat Ratna awardees

Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian honour, given for exceptional service towards advancement of Art, Literature and Science, and in

recognition of Public Service of the highest order. The provision of Bharat Ratna was introduced in 1954. 

The first ever Indian to receive this award was the famous scientist, Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman. Since then, many people, each a whiz in varied aspects of their career, have received this coveted award.

List of all Bharat Ratna awardees so far: 

Name - Birth / Death - Awarded - Notes

1. Chakravarti Rajgopalachari -1878–1972 - 1954 -

Independence activist, last Governor-General

2. C. V. Raman - 1888–1970 - 1954 - Physicist

3. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan -1888–1975 - 1954 - Philosopher,

India's First Vice President (1952-1962), and India's Second President(1962-1967)

4. Bhagwan Das - 1869–1958 -1955 - Independence activist,

author, Founder of Kashi Vidya Peeth

5. Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya - 1861–1962 - 1955 -

Civil engineer, Diwan of Mysore

6. Jawaharlal Nehru - 1889–1964 - 1955 - Independence activist,

author, first Prime Minister

7. Govind Ballabh Pant - 1887–1961 - 1957 - Independence

activist, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Home Minister

8. Dhondo Keshav Karve - 1858–1962 - 1958 - Educator,

social reformer

9. Bidhan Chandra Roy - 1882–1962 - 1961 - Physician,

Chief Minister of West Bengal

10. Purushottam Das Tandon - 1882–1962 - 1961 - Independence

activist, educator

11. Rajendra Prasad - 1884–1963 - 1962 - Independence

activist, jurist, first President

12. Zakir Hussain - 1897–1969 - 1963 - Independence activist,

Scholar, third President

13. Pandurang Vaman Kane - 1880–1972 - 1963 -Indologist

and Sanskrit scholar

14. Lal Bahadur Shastri - 1904–1966 - 1966 -Posthumous,

independence activist, second Prime Minister

15. Indira Gandhi - 1917–1984 - 1971 - Third Prime Minister

16. V. V. Giri - 1894–1980 - 1975 - Trade unionist and fourth President

17. K. Kamaraj - 1903–1975 - 1976 - Posthumous, independence

activist, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu State

18. Mother Teresa - 1910–1997 - 1980 - Catholic nun, founder of

the Missionaries of Charity

19. Vinoba Bhave - 1895–1982 - 1983 - Posthumous, social

reformer, independence activist

20. Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan - 1890–1988 - 1987 First non-

citizen, independence activist

21. M. G. Ramachandran - 1917–1987 - 1988 - Posthumous,

film actor, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu

22. B. R. Ambedkar - 1891–1956 - 1990 - Posthumous,

Chief architect of the Indian Constitution,Crusader against Untouchablity, Dalit Icon, Social Reformer,Historian, politician, economist, and scholar

23. Nelson Mandela - b. 1918 - 1990 - Second non-citizen

and non-Indian recipient, Leader of the Anti-Apartheid movement

24. Rajiv Gandhi - 1944–1991 - 1991 - Posthumous,

Sixth Prime Minister

25. Vallabhbhai Patel - 1875–1950 - 1991 -  Posthumous,

independence activist, first Home Minister

26. Morarji Desai  - 1896–1995 - 1991 - Independence activist,

fourth Prime Minister

27. Abul Kalam Azad - 1888–1958 - 1992 - Posthumous,

independence activist, first Minister of Education

28. J. R. D. Tata - 1904–1993 - 1992 - Industrialist

and philanthropist

29. Satyajit Ray - 1922–1992 - 1992 - Filmmaker

30. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam - b. 1931 - 1997 - Aeronautical

Engineer,11th President of India

31. Gulzarilal Nanda - 1898–1998 - 1997 - Independence activist,

interim Prime Minister

32. Aruna Asaf Ali - 1908–1996 - 1997 - Posthumous,

independence activist

33. M. S. Subbulakshmi - 1916–2004 - 1998 - Carnatic classical

singer

34. Chidambaram Subramaniam - 1910–2000 - 1998 -

Independence activist, Minister of Agriculture

35. Jayaprakash Narayan - 1902–1979 - 1999 - Posthumous,

independence activist and politician

36. Ravi Shankar - 1920–2012 - 1999 - Sitar player

37. Amartya Sen - b. 1933 - 1999 - Economist

38. Gopinath Bordoloi - 1890–1950 - 1999 - Posthumous,

independence activist, Chief Minister of Assam

39. Lata Mangeshkar - b. 1929 - 2001 - Playback singer

40. Bismillah Khan - 1916–2006 - 2001 - Hindustani classical

shehnai player

41. Pandit Bhimsen Joshi - 1922–2011 - 2008 - Hindustani

classical singer

42. Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao - b. 1934 - 2014 -

(announced) Scientist

43. Sachin Tendulkar  - b.1973 - 2014    - (announced) Cricketer