Complete List of Bharat Ratna Awardees from 1954 to 2024

In a historic announcement, the Indian government declared its decision to award the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honor, to three eminent individuals on Friday. Former Prime Ministers Chaudhary Charan Singh and PV Narasimha Rao, alongside Dr. MS Swaminathan, have been selected for their outstanding contributions to various fields within the nation. Their remarkable achievements in agriculture, farmers' welfare, nation-building, and economic reforms have rightfully earned them this prestigious accolade. Prime Minister Modi personally took to Twitter to share the news of their Bharat Ratna conferral.

The Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, was established by former President Rajendra Prasad on January 2, 1954. The inaugural Bharat Ratna recipients in 1954 were Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, Sir CV Raman, and Chakravarti Rajagopalachari. Initially, the concept of awarding it posthumously was absent from the original statute. However, in January 1966, provisions for posthumous awards were added to the prestigious accolade. Notably, Sachin Tendulkar became the first sportsperson to receive the Bharat Ratna, also earning the distinction of being the youngest recipient of the award.53 individuals have been honoured with the prestigious Bharat Ratna award for their noteworthy contributions to society. The following is a comprehensive list of all the recipients who have received this esteemed award.

Here's The Complete List

1954:  C Rajagopalachari, Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, CV Raman

1955:  Bhagwan Das, M Visvesvaraya, Jawaharlal Nehru

1957:   Govind Ballabh Pant

1958:  Dhondo Keshav Karve

1961:  Bidhan Chandra Roy, Purushottam Das Tandon

1962:  Dr Rajendra Prasad

1963:  Dr Zakir Husain, Pandurang Vaman Kane

1966:  Lal Bahadur Shastri

1971:  Indira Gandhi

1975:  VV Giri

1976:  K Kamaraj

1980:  Mother Teresa

1983:  Acharya Vinoba Bhave

1987:  Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan

1988:  MG Ramachandran

1990:  BR Ambedkar, Nelson Mandela

1991:  Rajiv Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Morarji Desai

1992:  Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, JRD Tata, Satyajit Ray

1997:  Gulzarilal Nanda, Aruna Asaf Ali, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam

1998:  MS Subbulakshmi, Chidambaram Subramaniam

1999:  Jayaprakash Narayan, Amartya Sen, Gopinath Bordoloi, Pandit Ravi Shankar

2001:  Lata Mangeshkar, Ustad Bismillah Khan

2009:  Bhimsen Joshi

2014:  CNR Rao, Sachin Tendulkar

2015:  Madan Mohan Malaviya, Atal Bihari Vajpayee

2019:  Pranab Mukherjee, Nanaji Deshmukh, Bhupen Hazarika

2024:  Karpoori Thakur, Lal Krishna Advani, Chaudhary Charan Singh, PV Narasimha Rao, Dr MS Swaminathan