The first ever Indian to receive this award was the famous scientist, Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman. Since then, many people, each a whiz in varied aspects of their career, have received this coveted award.
List of all Bharat Ratna awardees so far:
1. Late Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi in 2008 : Karnataka
2. Kumari Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar in 2001 : Maharashtra
3. Late Ustad Bismillah Khan in 2001 for contribution in the field of Arts : Uttar Pradesh
4.. Prof. Amartya Sen in1999 for Literature & Education : United Kingdom
5. Lokpriya Gopinath (posth.) Bordoloi in1999, for Public Affairs : Assam
6. Loknayak Jayprakash (Posth.) Narayan in 1999 for Public Affairs: Bihar
7. Pandit Ravi Shankar in 1999 for his contribution in the field of Arts : United States
8. Shri Chidambaram Subramaniam in 1998 for Public Affairs : Tamil Nadu
9. Smt. M.S. Subbulakshmi in 1998 for her contribution in the field of Arts : Tamil Nadu
10. Dr APJ Abdul Kalam in 1997 for his contribution in the field of Science and Engineering : Delhi
11. Smt. Aruna Asaf (Posth.) Ali in 1997 for her contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Delhi
12. Shri Gulzari Lal Nanda in 1997 for his contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Gujarat
13. Shri JRD Tata in 1992 for his contribution in the field of Trade & Industry : Maharashtra
14. Shri Maulana Abul Kalam Azad in 1992 for his contribution in Public Affairs : West Bengal
15. Shri Satyajit Ray in 1992 for his contribution in the field of Arts : West Bengal
16. Shri Morarji Ranchhodji Desai in 1991 for his contribution in Public Affairs : Gujarat
17. Shri Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 for his contribution in Public Affairs : Delhi
18. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in 1991 for his contribution in Public Affairs : Gujarat
19. Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedakr in 1990 for his contribution in Public Affairs : Maharashtra
20. Dr. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela in 1990 for his contribution in Public Affairs : South Africa
21. Shri Marudur Gopalan Ramachandran in 1988 for contribution in Public Affairs : Tamil Nadu
22. Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan in 1987 for contribution in the field of Social Work : Pakistan
23. Shri Acharya Vinoba Bhave in 1983 for contribution in the field of Social Work : Maharashtra
24. Mother Teresa in 1980 for contribution in the field of Social Work : West Bengal
25. Shri Kumaraswamy Kamraj in 1976 for contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Tamil Nadu
26. Shri V.V. Giri in 1975 for contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Odisha
27. Smt. Indira Gandhi in 1971 for contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Uttar Pradesh
28. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1966 for contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Uttar Pradesh
29. Dr. Pandurang Vaman Kane in 1963 for contribution in the field of Social Work : Maharashtra
30. Dr. Zakir Hussain in 1963 for contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Andhra Pradesh
31. Dr. Rajendra Prasad in 1962 for contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Bihar
32. Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy in 1961 for contribution in the Field of Public Affairs: West Bengal
33. Shri Purushottam Tandon in 1961 for contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Uttar Pradesh
34. Dr. Dhondo Keshav Karve in 1958 for contribution in the field of Social Work : Maharashtra
35. Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant in 1957 for contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Uttar Pradesh
36. Dr. Bhagwan Das in 1955 for contribution in Literature & Education : Uttar Pradesh
37. Shri Jawaharlal Nehru in 1955 for contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Uttar Pradesh
38. Dr. M. Vishweshwariah in 1955 for contribution in the field of Civil Service : Karnataka
39. Shri Chakravarti Rajagopalachari in 1954 for contribution in Public Affairs : Tamil Nadu
40. Dr. Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman in 1954 in Science & Engineering: Tamil Nadu
41. Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan in 1954 for contribution in Public Affairs : Tamil Nadu
