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Bharat Ratna, Indian Civil Award
Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award of the Republic India. This award is given for the highest degree of service to the nation. The award was established by the India`s first President Rajendra Prasad.
  Bharat Ratna Awardees      

Bharat RatnaBharat Ratna Award is the most prestigious and honourable civilian award, given by the Government of India. The award is given for the highest degrees of national service and mainly for artistic, literary and scientific achievements. The award is also given for "recognition of public service of the highest order". Though the recipients of Bharat Ratna Award carry no special title like Knights in England, they do occupy a special place among all the civilians. The term Bharat Ratna means; the "Jewel of India" or the "Gem of India". A total of 41 extraordinary talents of the country have been awarded the Bharat Ratna award from its inception. Pundit Bhimsen Joshi was the recipient of the award, in 2008.

History of Bharat Ratna
The Bharat Ratna Award was introduced in the year 1954 and the first President of India;. Rajendra Prasad presented the award to Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan on 2nd January, 1954. Since then, the award is being given to the best talents of India, on a regular basis. However, it was suspended for a brief period from 13th July 1977 to 26th January 1980. The Bharat Ratna has been given posthumously to twelve `Jewels of India` so far, including the one presented to Subhash Chandra Bose in 1992. However, the award to Netaji was withdrawn later due to a legal technicality and this was the only case of a Bharat Ratna award being withdrawn.

Design of Bharat Ratna
The design of the award has seen changes, as in its very first year, a circular gold medal, with a diameter of thirty-five millimetre, was given to the winner. The Sun was there on the obverse of the medal and the term `Bharat Ratna` was also written in Hindi script with a flora wreath below. The state emblem and motto was there on the reverse of the medal. The winners then used to wear it around their neck from a white ribbon.

However, the design of the Bharat Ratna Award was altered within one year after its inception and there is no evidence available about whether any specimens of the design were made. The award is now designed in the shape of a leaf from Peepul tree and the term `Bharat Ratna` is written in Hindi language, in the front side of the award. The reverse side of the award carries the state emblem and motto and is attached to a two-inch long ribbon. The winners wear it around their neck.

There is no strict or formal provision that the recipients of the Bharat Ratna Award ought to be Indian citizens. This is why two non-Indians and a naturalised Indian citizen have so far been presented the award. They are the naturalised Indian citizen, Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, better known as Mother Teresa (1980); and the two non-Indians, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987) and Nelson Mandela (1990). The Bharat Ratna Awardees are considered to be the greatest talents India has ever produced, in different fields.

Recipients of Bharat Ratna

Chakravarti Rajagopalachari 1954
C. V. Raman 1954
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan 1954
Bhagwan Das 1955
Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya 1955
Jawaharlal Nehru 1955
Govind Ballabh Pant 1957
Dhondo Keshav Karve 1958
Bidhan Chandra Roy 1961
Purushottam Das Tandon 1961
Rajendra Prasad 1962
Zakir Hussain 1963
Pandurang Vaman Kane 1963
Lal Bahadur Shastri 1966
Indira Gandhi 1971
V. V. Giri 1975
K. Kamaraj 1976
Mother Teresa 1980
Vinoba Bhave Gandhi 1983
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan 1987
M. G. Ramachandran 1988
B. R. Ambedkar 1990
Nelson Mandela 1990
Rajiv Gandhi 1991
Vallabhbhai Patel 1991
Morarji Desai 1991
Abul Kalam Azad 1992
J. R. D. Tata 1992
Satyajit Ray 1992
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam 1997
Gulzarilal Nanda 1997
Aruna Asaf Ali 1997
M. S. Subbulakshmi 1998
Chidambaram Subramaniam 1998
Jayaprakash Narayan 1999
Pt. Ravi Shankar 1999
Amartya Sen 1999
Gopinath Bordoloi 1999
Lata Mangeshkar 2001
Ustad Bismillah Khan 2001
Pt. Bhimsen Joshi 2008


(Last Updated on : 30/12/2011)
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