Bharat Ratna

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Bharat Ratna
Award Information
Type	Civilian
Category	General
Instituted	1954
Last Awarded	2001
Total Awarded	41
Awarded by	Govt. of India
Description	An image of the Sun along with the words "Bharat Ratna", inscribed in Devanagari script, on a peepul leaf
First Awardee(s)	Dr.Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
Last Awardee(s)	Lata Mangeshkar Ustad Bismillah Khan
Award Rank
none ← Bharat Ratna → Padma Vibhushan

Bharat Ratna (Gem of India in English) is India's highest civilian award, 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 knights, holders of the Bharat Ratna carry no special title nor any other honorifics, but they do have a place in the order of precedence. It was established by the President of India, on 2 January 1954. The award was briefly suspended from July 13, 1977 to January 26, 1980.

[edit] History

The Bharta Ratna Citation, the certificate conferred to Late M. G. Ramachandran

The order was established by Dr Rajendra Prasad, President of India, on the second of January 1954. 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. Subsequently, there have been ten posthumous awards, including the award to Subhash Chandra Bose in 1992, which was later withdrawn due to a legal technicality, the only case of an award being withdrawn. The award was briefly suspended from July 13, 1977 to January 26, 1980.

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 — Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, better known as Mother Teresa (1980); and two to non-Indians — Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987) and Nelson Mandela (1990). The awarding of this honour though, has frequently been the subject of litigation questioning the constitutional basis of such

[edit] Specifications

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.

[edit] Complete list of the Awardees

MGR being conferred India's Highest Civilian Award - Bharat Ratna - being recieved from President R.Venkatraman by wife Janaki Ramachandran