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| Bharat Ratna (List of Winners 1954--2018) |
The recommendations are made by the Prime Minister of India to the President of India with a maximum limit of three recommendations each year. The award recipients receive a Sanad (certificate), and a peepal leaf shaped medallion. There is no monetary grant associated with this award.
The first recipients of the Bharat Ratna were C. Rajagopalchari, S. Radhakrishnan, and C.V. Raman. Since then 48 individuals have received the award for their outstanding contribution in their respective field.
In 1958, Dhondho Keshav Karve received the prestigious award at the age of 100, making him the oldest Bharat Ratna Samman recipient till date.
In 1965, the Second Prime Minister of India Lal Bahadur Shashtri became first person to receive the Bharat Ratna award posthumously.
In 1980, Mother Teresa became first naturalized Indian to receive the Bharat Ratna Samman.
In 1987, Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan becomes the first non-Indian person to receive the highest honour of India.
In 1990, Nelson Mandela became the second non-Indian person to win this award.
In 2014, Sachin Tendulkar became the first sportsman to receive Bharat Ratna award. He is also the youngest person to receive the honour.
In 2019, Pranab Mukherjee (the 13th President of India), Bhupen Hazarika and Nanaji Deshmukh have won the prestigious Bharat Ratna Award. Bhupen Hazarika and Nanaji Deshmukh have been awarded posthumously.
Sachin Tendulkar, Lata Mangeshkar, Amartya Sen, CNR Rao and Pranab Mukherjee are the living Bharat Ratnas. Bharat Ratna recipients rank seventh in order of the precedence of India.
| Year | Recepient |
|---|---|
| 1954 | C Rajagopalachari |
| 1954 | Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |
| 1954 | Dr. CV Raman |
| 1955 | Dr. Bhagwan Das |
| 1955 | Dr. M Visvesvaraya |
| 1955 | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| 1957 | Govind Ballabh Pant |
| 1958 | Dr. Dhondo Keshav Karve |
| 1961 | Dr.Bidhan Chandra Roy |
| 1961 | Shri Purushottam Das Tandon |
| 1962 | Dr. Rajendra Prasad |
| 1962 | Dr. Zakir Husain |
| 1963 | Dr. Pandurang Vaman Kane |
| 1966 | Lal Bahadur Shastri (posthumous) |
| 1971 | Smt. Indira Gandhi |
| 1975 | V.V. Giri |
| 1976 | K. Kamaraj(posthumous) |
| 1980 | Mother Teresa |
| 1983 | Acharya Vinoba Bhave |
| 1987 | Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan |
| 1988 | MG Ramachandran |
| 1990 | Dr. B. R. Ambedkar |
| 1990 | Nelson Mandela |
| 1991 | Rajiv Gandhi (posthumous) |
| 1991 | Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (posthumous) |
| 1991 | Morarji Desai |
| 1992 | Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (posthumous) |
| 1992 | JRD Tata |
| 1992 | Satyajit Ray |
| 1997 | Gulzarilal Nanda |
| 1997 | Aruna Asaf Ali (posthumous) |
| 1997 | Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam |
| 1998 | MS Subbulakshmi |
| 1998 | Chidambaram Subramaniam |
| 1999 | Jayaprakash Narayan (posthumous) |
| 1999 | Amartya Sen |
| 1999 | Gopinath Bordoloi (posthumous) |
| 1999 | Pandit Ravi Shankar |
| 2001 | ShushriLata Mangeshkar |
| 2001 | Ustad Bismillah Khan |
| 2009 | Pandit Bhimsen Joshi |
| 2014 | CNR Rao |
| 2014 | Sachin Tendulkar |
| 2015 | Madan Mohan Malaviya (posthumous) |
| 2015 | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| 2019 | Pranab Mukherjee |
| 2019 | Bhupen Hazarika (posthumous) |
| 2019 | Nanaji Deshmukh (posthumous) |