The recognition that is given to honour a person for outstanding work in a particular field is an award. Important awards in India are usually given in the form of a trophy, certificate, title, etc. Important awards in India are given by a government agency. This is the highest honour in India which can be given to any person irrespective of race, religion, caste for his outstanding work. The recipients received a certificate signed by the President and a medal in the shape of a peepal leaf. This award has nothing to do with financial aid. The government gives the most prestigious awards in India, and these important awards are divided into different categories. These awards are discussed in detail below.

A list of important awards in India

The list of important awards in India are –

  • Bharat Ratna (Civilian Award).
  • Padma Vibhushan.
  • Padma Bhushan.
  • Padma Shri.
  • Param Vir Chakra (Gallantry Award).
  • Ashoka Chakra.
  • Mahavir Chakra Award.
  • Vir Chakra.
  • Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (Sports Award).
  • Arjuna Award.
  • Dronacharya Award.
  • Gandhi Peace Prize.
  • Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding.
  • Indira Gandhi Prize.

Bharat Ratna

The Bharat Ratna is India’s highest civilian award, given to any person, regardless of race, religion, or caste, for their outstanding work. The President of India recommends this award to the Prime Minister. Recipients of the award receive a certificate and medal from the President. Any financial aid does not accompany this award.

‘Bharat Ratna’, one of the most important awards in India, is inscribed in silver gilt on the Devanagari inscription at the top of one end of the award, and the state emblem is inscribed with the motto ‘Satyameva Jayate’ in the Devanagari inscription at the other end.

The first recipients of this award in India are –

  • Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan (1954),
  • Dr. C. V. Raman (1954),
  • C. Rajagopalachari (1954).

Many more people from India also received this award. Some of them are mentioned below –

  • Indira Gandhi (1971),
  • Mother Teresa (1980),
  • Rajiv Gandhi (1991),
  • Satyajit Ray (1992),
  • A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1997),
  • Chidambaram Subramaniam (1998),
  • Amartya Sen (1999),
  • Lata Mangeshkar (2001),
  • Bhimsen Joshi (2009),
  • Sachin Tendulkar (2014),
  • Atal Bihari Vajpayee (2015),
  • Pranab Mukherjee (2019).

Padma Vibhushan

This award is the second-highest civilian award in India. Established in 1954, it is a distinguished service irrespective of race, religion, or caste. This award is given to those who are involved in public service. But all the colleagues associated with doctors as well as scientists are not eligible for this award. The names of the recipients of this award were announced on Republic Day.

Padma Vibhushan i.e., Lotus Decoration. A Lotus flower has been carved in a centre, and above this Lotus flower in Devanagari inscription, the word ‘Padma’ is placed above and the word ‘Vibhushan’ below.

The first recipients of this award in India are –

  •   Satyendra Nath Bose (1954),
  •   Nandalal Bose (1954),
  •   Zakir Husain (1954),
  •   Balasaheb Gangadhar Khmer (1954),
  •   V. K. Krishna Menon (1954),
  •   Jigme Dorji Wangchuck (1954).

Many more people from India also received this award. Some of them are mentioned below –

  •   Fazal Ali (1956),
  •   Ghanshyam Das Birla (1957),
  •   Vijayawada Lakshmi Pandit (1962),
  •   P. V. R. Rao (1967),
  •   Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis (1968),
  •   Allauddin Khan (1971)
  •   Basanti Devi (1973)
  •   Satyajit Ray (1976),
  •   Bismillah Khan (1980),
  •   P. J. Abdul Kalam (1990),
  •   Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1992),
  •   Bhimsen Joshi (1999),
  •   R. K. Narayan (2000),
  •   Nirmala Deshpande (2006),
  •   Pranab Mukherjee (2008),
  •   Ratan Tata (2008) ,
  •   Sachin Tendulkar (2008),
  •   Sunderlal Bahuguna (2009),
  •   Bhupen Hazarika (2012),
  •   Dhurubhai Ambani (2016),
  •   Mary Kom (2020),
  •   Sushma Swaraj (2020),
  •   Sudarshan Sahoo (2021),
  •   Kalyan Singh (2022),

People like P. N. Haksar, Vilayat Khan, E. M. S. Namboodiripad rejected the Padma Vibhushan award. Family members of Laxmi Chandler Jain (2011) and Sharad Anantrao Joshi (2016) declined their posthumous honours.

Padma Bhushan

This is the third-highest award in terms of civilian awards in India. It is given to people irrespective of race, religion, and caste to recognise their outstanding service to their nation.

This award also looks a lot like the Padma Vibhushan award. The Lotus flower in the centre of it is engraved on the opposite side of the medal, and in the Devanagari script, the word ‘Padma’ is placed above and the word ‘Bhushan’ below.

Below are the names of some of the people who have received this award –

  • Homi Jehangir Bhabha (1954),
  • Mahadeva Iyer Ganapati (1954),
  • Sukumar Sen (1954),
  • Suniti Kumar Chatterji (1955),
  • Rajshekhar Basu (1956),
  • Lakshmi Menon (1957),
  • Radha Kumud Mukherjee (1957),
  • Allauddin Khan (1958),
  • Sisir Kumar Bhaduri (1959),
  • Kazi Nazrul Islam (1960),
  • K. Venkataraman (1961),
  • Jafar Ali Khan (1962),
  • Ramkumar Verma (1963),
  • Tushar Kanti Ghosh (1964),
  • Satyajit Ray (1965),
  • Babubhai Manekal Chinai (1966),
  • Ravi Shankar (1967),
  • Radhanath Rath (1968),
  • Lata Mangeshkar (1969),
  • Buddhadeb Bose (1970),
  • Raj Kapoor (1971),
  • Jagjit Singh Aurora (1972),
  • Raja Ramanna (1973),
  • Jagmohan (1977),
  • Mrinal Sen (1981),
  • Kapil Dev (1991),
  • Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya (1998),
  • Bipan Chandra (2010),
  • Ajoy Chakrabarty (2020),
  • Tarun Gogoi (2021),
  • Ram Vilas Paswan (2021),
  • Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee (2022).

Padma Shri

Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award in India, given annually by the Government of India on Republic Day. This award, one of the most important awards & honours in India, is given to citizens for their significant contribution in the fields of industry, education, sports, medicine, social service, etc.

Below are the names of some of the people who have received this award –

  • Asha Devi Aryanayakam (1954),
  • Nargis (1958),
  • Arati Saha (1960),
  • P. C. Sorcar (1964),
  • Begum Akhtar (1968),
  • Ritwik Ghatak (1970),
  • Kapil Dev (1982),
  • Ela Bhatt (1985),
  • P. T. Usha (1985),
  •  Sachin Tendulkar (1999),
  • Sourav Ganguly (2004),
  • Saina Nehwal (2010),
  • Yuvraj Singh (2014),
  • Hiralal Yadav (2019),
  • Sushovan Banerjee (2020),
  • Ekta Kapoor (2020),
  • Usha Yadav (2021),
  • Om Prakash Gandhi (2022),
  • Sonu Nigam (2022).

Param Vir Chakra

It is one of the highest military awards in India, awarded for bravery in wartime situations. The param vir chakra is known as the ultimate hero chakra and symbolises the ultimate bravery in the presence of the enemy.

The following are some of the people who have received this award in India –

  • Major Somnath Sharma,
  • Lance Naik Karam Singh,
  • Company Quarter Master Havildar Abdul Hamid,
  • Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey,
  • Captain Vikram Batra.

Conclusion

Apart from these awards, there are many other important awards in India. For example, the government of Madhya Pradesh gives Kalidas honours to people skilled in dance, music, theatre, etc. The Nehru Sahitya Puraskar has been launched in India to promote adult education and literacy. The R. D. Birla Prize is awarded to individuals skilled in medicine and research. The National Children’s Award is also given to children aged 4-15 years as an amazing prize. It was given at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 14th November, Children’s Day.