Everything About Bharat Ratna Award

Important facts about Bharat Ratna

It is the highest civilian award of India.
Established on 2 January 1954
Awarded by the President of India
The award was given for outstanding achievements in the Arts, Literature, Science and Public Services but the government expanded the criteria to include “any field of human endeavor”.
The recommendations for the Bharat Ratna are made by the Prime Minister to the President.
The number of annual awards is restricted to a maximum of three in a particular year.
It is not mandatory that Bharat Ratna be awarded every year.
There is no written provision that Bharat Ratna should be awarded to Indian citizens only.
Recipients receive a Sanad (certificate) signed by the President and a peepal –eaf-shaped medallion. There is no monetary grant associated with the award.
Bharat Ratna recipients rank seventh in the Indian order of precedence.

About Peepal-Leaf-Medallion

Obverse: An image of the Sun along with the words "Bharat Ratna", inscribed in Devanagari script, on a peepal (Ficus religiosa) leaf.

Reverse: A platinum State Emblem of India placed in the centre with the national motto, "Satyameva Jayate" (Truth alone triumphs) in Devanagari script.

Bharat Ratna Recipients

Total Awarded: 48

Indian Citizen Recipient: 45
Naturalized Indian citizen Recipient: 1 (Mother Teresa)
Non-Indian citizen Recipient: 2 (Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Nelson Mandela)
Posthumous Recipient: 14
Women Bharat Ratna Recipient: 5

First Awarded: 1954 (C. Rajagopalchari, C. V. Raman and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan)
Last Awarded: 2019 (Pranab Mukherjee, Bhupen Hazarika (Posthumous) and Nanaji Deshmukh (Posthumous)

Women Bharat Ratna Recipients

S/N	Name of Recipient	Year	Any Note
1.	Indira Gandhi	1971	Known as Iron Lady of India, First woman Prime Minister of India
2.	Mother Teresa	1980	She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979
3.	Aruna Asaf Ali	1997	She is known for hoisted the Indian flag in Bombay during the Quit India Movement in 1942
4.	M.S. Subbulakshmi	1998	Carnatic classical vocalist, The first Indian musician to receive the Ramon Magsaysay award
5.	Lata Mangeshkar	2001	Known as the nightingale of India, She was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1989

Some Important Facts about Recipients

First politician to be awarded the Bharat Ratna – C. Rajagopalchari (1954)
First Scientist to be awarded the Bharat Ratna – C.V. Raman (1954)
First sportsman to be awarded the Bharat Ratna – Sachin R Tendulkar (2014)
The first person to be awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously – Lal Bahadur Shastri (1966)
Only naturalized Indian citizen who received the Bharat Ratna – Mother Teresa (1980)
Non-Indians who received the Bharat Ratna – Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987) and Nelson Mandela (1990)
The youngest recipient of Bharat Ratna – Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (2014)
The oldest recipient of Bharat Ratna – Dhondo Keshav Karve (1958)
First woman to be awarded the Bharat Ratna – Indira Gandhi (1971)
First Bharat Ratna Awardee to become the President of India – Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1954)
First and only Industrialist to be awarded the Bharat Ratna – JRD Tata (1992)