The Bharat Ratna "Jewel of India" is India's supreme decoration and honor, awarded for the highest degrees of national service. This service includes artistic, literary, and scientific achievement, as well as "recognition of public service of the highest order." Throughout the history of the decoration, it has been very carefully stressed that the award of the Bharat Ratna carries with it no title, no "knighthood," and no particular 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 Mohandas Karamchand 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, “Mother Theresa,” in 1980) and one to a non-Indian (to Nelson Mandela in 1990).

The original specifications for the award called for a circular gold medal, 1-3/8 inches 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 (except, perhaps, prototypes?) were ever produced and one year later the design was altered as is detailed below.

The political history of the Bharat Ratna (as well as that of the Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri) has been controversial. As has been mentioned above, no title, royalty, knighthood or other special status is conferred with the decoration. From 13 July 1977 until 26 January 1980, awards of this decoration were suspended.

Established: By the President of India, 2 January 1954. The regulations were revised 8 January 1955 (to alter the design) and amended 26 January 1957 (to alter the depiction of the devices on the obverse and reverse). From 13 July 1977 to 26 January 1980, awards of the Bharat Ratna were suspended.

Awards

To date, there have been thirty-three recipients of the Bharat Ratna, and many other names have been raised in public discussion.

Dr. Sarvepali Radhakrishnan, 1954 - 1888-1974, philosopher, President of India, 1962-1967

Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, 1954 - Governor-General of India, 19??-??

Dr, Chandrasekhar Venkat Raman, 1954

Dr, Bhagwan Das, 1955

Dr. Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, 1955

Jawaharlal Nehru, 1955 - freedom fighter, Prime Minister of India, 1947-64

Govind Ballabh Pant, 1957

Dr. Dhondo Keshave Karve, 1958

Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, 1961

Purushottam Das Tandon, 1961

Dr. Rajendra Prasad, 1962 - 1884-1963, President of India, 1950-1962

Dr. Zakir Husain, 1963 - 1897-1969, President of India, 1967-1969

Dr. Pandurang Vaman Kane, 1963

Lal Bahadur Shastri (Posthumous), 1966 - Prime Minister of India, 1964-1966

Indira Gandhi, 1971 - Prime Minister of India, 1966-1977, 1980-1984

Varahagiri Venkatagiri Giri, 1975 - 1894-1980, President of India, 1969-1974

Kumaraswami Kamraj (Posthumous), 1976

Mother Teresa, 1980 - social rights activist

Acharya Vinobha Bhave (Posthumous), 1983 - activist for social and economic rights

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, 1987 - freedom fighter

Marudu Gopalan Ramachandran (Posthumous), 1988

Dr. Bhim Rao Ramji Ambedkar (Posthumous), 1990 - fighter for rights for India’s harijans ("untouchables")

Dr. Nelson Mandela, 1990 - fighter for South African freedom, the sole award to a non-citizen

Rajiv Gandhi (Posthumous), 1991 - Prime Minister of India 1984-1989

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (Posthumous), 1991 - freedom fighter

Morarji Ranchhodji Desai, 1991 - freedom fighter, Prime Minister of India 1977-1979

Maulana Azad, 1992 - freedom fighter

Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhai Tata, 1992 - industrialist

Satyajit Ray (Posthumous), 1992 - film director

A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, 1997 - pioneer in missile technology

Gulzarilal Nanda, 1997 - Prime Minister of India, 19??-??

Aruna Asaf Ali (Posthumous), 1997 - freedom fighter

M. S. Subbulakshmi, 1998 - classical singer in Carnatic vocal style

C. Subramaniam, 1998 - veteran politician and guiding force behind India’s “Green Revolution”