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The Bharat Ratna is India's supreme decoration and honor, awarded for the highest degrees of national service. This service includes artistic, literary, and scientific achievements, as well as "recognition of public service of the highest order." Unlike knighthood, holders of the Bharat Ratna neither carry a special title nor assume a certain precedence or status.
The original statutes of January 1954 did not make allowance for posthumous awards (and this perhaps explains why the decoration was never awarded to Mahatma Gandhi), though this provision was added in the January 1955 statute (and there have, subsequently, been seven posthumous awards). While there was no formal provision that recipients of the Bharat Ratna should be Indian citizens, this seems to have been the general assumption. There has been one award to a naturalized Indian citizen (to Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, better known as "Mother Theresa," in 1980) and two to non-Indians (to Nelson Mandela in 1990 and to Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan in 1988).
The original specifications for the award called for a circular gold medal, 35 mm in diameter, with the sun and the Hindi legend "Bharat Ratna" above and a floral wreath below. The reverse was to carry the state emblem and motto. It was to be worn around the neck from a white ribbon. There is no indication that any specimens of this design were ever produced and one year later the design was altered.
| Name | Awarded |
| Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888-1975) | 1954 |
| Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (1878-1972) | 1954 |
| Dr Chandrasekhar Venkat Raman (1888-1970) | 1954 |
| Dr Bhagwan Das (1869-1958) | 1955 |
| Dr Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya (1861-1962) | 1955 |
| Jawaharlal NehruJawaharlal Nehru ( November 14, 1889 May 27, 1964), was a leader of the (moderately) socialist wing of the Indian National Congress during and after India's struggle for independence from the British Empire. He became the first Prime Minister of India at (1889 -1964) | 1955 |
| Govind Ballabh Pant (1887-1961) | 1957 |
| Dr Dhondo Keshave Karve (1858-1962) | 1958 |
| Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy (1882-1962) | 1961 |
| Purushottam Das Tandon (1882-1962) | 1961 |
| Dr Rajendra PrasadRajendra Prasad ( December 3, 1884 February 28, 1963) was the first President of India. Prasad was born in Zeradei, Bihar. His father, Mahadev Sahay, was a Persian and Sanskrit language scholar; his mother, Kamleshwari Devi, was a devout lady who would te (1884-1963) | 1962 |
| Dr Zakir HussainThis article is about Dr Zakir Hussain, the former Indian president. There is a separate article about Zakir Hussain, the tabla player. Dr Zakir Hussain ( February 8, 1897 May 3, 1969) was the third President of India from May 13, 1967 until his death.(1897-1969) | 1963 |
| Dr Pandurang Vaman Kane (1880-1972) | 1963 |
| Lal Bahadur ShastriLal Bahadur Shastri ( ( October 2, 1904 January 11, 1966) was the second Prime Minister of independent India and a significant figure in the struggle for independence. Lal Bahadur was born in Moghalsarai. He abandoned his studies to take part in the non-c (Posthumous) (1904-1966) | 1966 |
| Indira GandhiIndira Priyadarshini Gandhi ( ( November 19, 1917 October 31, 1984) was Prime Minister of India from January 19, 1966 to March 24, 1977, and from January 14, 1980 until her assassination in 1984. Early years She was the only child of Jawaharlal Nehru, the (1917-1984) | 1971 |
| Varahagiri Venkatagiri (1894-1980) | 1975 |
| Kumaraswami KamrajKumaraswami Kamaraj (1903-1975) was an Indian politician widely known as a kingmaker in Indian politics. He was instrumental in bringing to power two Prime Ministers, Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1964 and Indira Gandhi in 1966 He was born in 15th July of 1903 t (Posthumous) (1903-1975) | 1976 |
| Mary Taresa Bojaxhiu ( Mother Teresa) (1910-1997) | 1980 |
| Acharya Vinoba BhaveVinoba Bhave ( September 11, 1895 November 15, 1982) was a very respectable teacher who devoted himself to the land gifting movement. He and his followers made a peace walk across India that resulted in the gifting of 4 million acres (16,000 km²) of land. (Posthumous) (1895-1982) | 1983 |
| Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1890-1988) | 1987 |
| Marudu Gopalan Ramachandran (Posthumous) (1917-1987) | 1988 |
| Dr Bhim Rao Ramji Ambedkar (Posthumous) (1891-1956) | 1990 |
| Dr Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (b 1918) | 1990 |
| Rajiv Gandhi (Posthumous) (1944-1991) | 1991 |
| Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (Posthumous) (1875-1950) | 1991 |
| Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (1896-1995) | 1991 |
| Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (1888-1958) | 1992 |
| Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhai Tata (1904-1993) | 1992 |
| Satyajit Ray (1922-1992) | 1992 |
| A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (b 1931) | 1997 |
| Gulzarilal Nanda (1898-1998) | 1997 |
| Aruna Asaf Ali (Posthumous) (1906-1995) | 1997 |
| M.S. Subbulakshmi (b 1916) | 1998 |
| C Subramaniam (1910-2000) | 1998 |
| Jayaprakash Narayan (1902-1979) | 1998 |
| Ravi Shankar (b 1920) | 1999 |
| Amartya Sen (b 1933) | 1999 |
| Gopinath Bordoloi (b 1927) | 1999 |
| Lata Mangeshkar (b 1929) | 2001 |
| Bismillah Khan (b 1916) | 2001 |