What Are the Padma Awards?
The Padma Awards are among India’s highest and most prestigious civilian honours, instituted in 1954 by the Government of India. Announced every year on the occasion of Republic Day (January 26), these awards celebrate individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the nation across a wide spectrum of fields — from art, literature, and medicine to science, sports, public affairs, and social work.
The awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial Civil Investiture functions held at Rashtrapati Bhavan, typically around March–May each year.
Importantly, the Padma Awards are not titles — the Indian Constitution prohibits the use of award names as prefixes or suffixes to one’s name. They are purely honours, a formal expression of the nation’s gratitude.
The Three Categories
The Padma Awards are divided into three tiers, in descending order of prestige:
1. Padma Vibhushan — The second-highest civilian award in India (after Bharat Ratna). Conferred for exceptional and distinguished service to the nation.
2. Padma Bhushan — Awarded for distinguished service of a high order, recognising contributions that have had significant national impact.
3. Padma Shri — The fourth-highest civilian award, given for distinguished service in any field, often honouring grassroots heroes, unsung contributors, and those working quietly at the community level.
Padma Awards 2026: Overview
On January 25, 2026, on the eve of Republic Day, President Droupadi Murmu approved the conferment of 131 Padma Awards for the year 2026. The breakdown is as follows:
- Padma Vibhushan: 5
- Padma Bhushan: 13
- Padma Shri: 113
Among the 131 awardees:
- 19 are women
- 16 awards are posthumous
- 6 recipients are from the Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI category
- 2 are Duo cases (a pair counted as one award)
The awards span fields including Art, Medicine, Literature & Education, Science & Engineering, Sports, Social Work, Public Affairs, Trade & Industry, Civil Service, Agriculture, Archaeology, Spiritualism, and Animal Husbandry.
The Ceremony
The first Civil Investiture Ceremony was held on May 25, 2026 at the Ganatantra Mandap, Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. President Droupadi Murmu conferred awards upon 66 recipients in the first phase. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President CP Radhakrishnan, and Home Minister Amit Shah were among the dignitaries present.
One of the most emotional moments of the evening came when veteran actress and MP Hema Malini, visibly tearful, received the Padma Vibhushan on behalf of her late husband Dharmendra, who passed away on November 24, 2025 at age 89. Their daughter Aahana Deol was seen breaking down at the ceremony.
A second phase of the ceremony is scheduled to honour the remaining recipients.
Notable Highlights of 2026
- Dharmendra (Posthumous) — Bollywood’s “He-Man”, one of the most iconic actors in Indian cinema history, honoured with Padma Vibhushan.
- V S Achuthanandhan (Posthumous) — Veteran Communist leader and former Kerala Chief Minister, honoured with Padma Vibhushan.
- Alka Yagnik — Legendary playback singer with a career spanning five decades, conferred Padma Bhushan.
- Mammootty — Acclaimed Malayalam superstar and one of the finest actors in Indian cinema, awarded Padma Bhushan.
- Rohit Sharma — Indian cricket team captain, awarded Padma Shri for his outstanding contribution to cricket.
- Harmanpreet Kaur — Captain of the Indian women’s cricket team, honoured with Padma Shri.
- Uday Kotak — Veteran banker and founder of Kotak Mahindra Bank, awarded Padma Bhushan for Trade & Industry.
- Vijay Amritraj — Tennis legend, awarded Padma Bhushan.
- Shibu Soren (Posthumous) — Jharkhand’s iconic tribal leader and former CM, honoured with Padma Bhushan.
- Prosenjit Chatterjee — Celebrated Bengali actor, awarded Padma Shri.
- Piyush Pandey (Posthumous) — The legendary advertising maestro behind iconic campaigns, awarded Padma Bhushan.
Complete List of Winners
🏅 Padma Vibhushan (5)
| # | Name | Field | State/Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shri Dharmendra Singh Deol (Posthumous) | Art | Maharashtra |
| 2 | Shri K T Thomas | Public Affairs | Kerala |
| 3 | Ms. N Rajam | Art | Uttar Pradesh |
| 4 | Shri P Narayanan | Literature & Education | Kerala |
| 5 | Shri V S Achuthanandhan (Posthumous) | Public Affairs | Kerala |
🏅 Padma Bhushan (13)
| # | Name | Field | State/Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Ms. Alka Yagnik | Art | Maharashtra |
| 7 | Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari | Public Affairs | Uttarakhand |
| 8 | Shri Kallipatti Ramasamy Palaniswamy | Medicine | Tamil Nadu |
| 9 | Shri Mammootty | Art | Kerala |
| 10 | Dr. Nori Dattatreyudu | Medicine | USA |
| 11 | Shri Piyush Pandey (Posthumous) | Art | Maharashtra |
| 12 | Shri S K M Maeilanandhan | Social Work | Tamil Nadu |
| 13 | Shri Shatavadhani R Ganesh | Art | Karnataka |
| 14 | Shri Shibu Soren (Posthumous) | Public Affairs | Jharkhand |
| 15 | Shri Uday Kotak | Trade & Industry | Maharashtra |
| 16 | Shri V K Malhotra (Posthumous) | Public Affairs | Delhi |
| 17 | Shri Vellappally Natesan | Public Affairs | Kerala |
| 18 | Shri Vijay Amritraj | Sports | USA |
🏅 Padma Shri (113)
| # | Name | Field | State/Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | Shri A E Muthunayagam | Science & Engineering | Kerala |
| 20 | Shri Anil Kumar Rastogi | Art | Uttar Pradesh |
| 21 | Shri Anke Gowda M. | Social Work | Karnataka |
| 22 | Ms. Armida Fernandez | Medicine | Maharashtra |
| 23 | Shri Arvind Vaidya | Art | Gujarat |
| 24 | Shri Ashok Khade | Trade & Industry | Maharashtra |
| 25 | Shri Ashok Kumar Singh | Science & Engineering | Uttar Pradesh |
| 26 | Shri Asok Kumar Haldar | Literature & Education | West Bengal |
| 27 | Shri Baldev Singh | Sports | Punjab |
| 28 | Shri Bhagwandas Raikwar | Sports | Madhya Pradesh |
| 29 | Shri Bharat Singh Bharti | Art | Bihar |
| 30 | Shri Bhiklya Ladakya Dhinda | Art | Maharashtra |
| 31 | Shri Bishwa Bandhu (Posthumous) | Art | Bihar |
| 32 | Shri Brij Lal Bhat | Social Work | Jammu & Kashmir |
| 33 | Shri Buddha Rashmi Mani | Archaeology | Uttar Pradesh |
| 34 | Dr. Budhri Tati | Social Work | Chhattisgarh |
| 35 | Shri Chandramouli Gaddamanugu | Science & Engineering | Telangana |
| 36 | Shri Charan Hembram | Literature & Education | Odisha |
| 37 | Shri Chiranji Lal Yadav | Art | Uttar Pradesh |
| 38 | Ms. Deepika Reddy | Art | Telangana |
| 39 | Shri Dharmiklal Chunilal Pandya | Art | Gujarat |
| 40 | Shri Gadde Babu Rajendra Prasad | Art | Andhra Pradesh |
| 41 | Shri Gafruddin Mewati Jogi | Art | Rajasthan |
| 42 | Shri Gambir Singh Yonzone | Literature & Education | West Bengal |
| 43 | Shri Garimella Balakrishna Prasad (Posthumous) | Art | Andhra Pradesh |
| 44 | Ms. Gayatri Balasubramanian & Ms. Ranjani Balasubramanian (Duo) | Art | Tamil Nadu |
| 45 | Shri Gopal Ji Trivedi | Science & Engineering | Bihar |
| 46 | Shri Guduru Venkat Rao | Medicine | Telangana |
| 47 | Shri H V Hande | Medicine | Tamil Nadu |
| 48 | Shri Hally War | Social Work | Meghalaya |
| 49 | Shri Hari Madhab Mukhopadhyay (Posthumous) | Art | West Bengal |
| 50 | Shri Haricharan Saikia | Art | Assam |
| 51 | Ms. Harmanpreet Kaur Bhullar | Sports | Punjab |
| 52 | Shri Inderjit Singh Sidhu | Social Work | Chandigarh |
| 53 | Shri Janardan Bapurao Bothe | Social Work | Maharashtra |
| 54 | Shri Jogesh Deuri | Agriculture | Assam |
| 55 | Shri Juzer Vasi | Science & Engineering | Maharashtra |
| 56 | Shri Jyotish Debnath | Art | West Bengal |
| 57 | Shri K Pajanivel | Sports | Puducherry |
| 58 | Shri K Ramasamy | Science & Engineering | Tamil Nadu |
| 59 | Shri K Vijay Kumar | Civil Service | Tamil Nadu |
| 60 | Shri Kabindra Purkayastha (Posthumous) | Public Affairs | Assam |
| 61 | Shri Kailash Chandra Pant | Literature & Education | Madhya Pradesh |
| 62 | Ms. Kalamandalam Vimala Menon | Art | Kerala |
| 63 | Shri Kewal Krishan Thakral | Medicine | Uttar Pradesh |
| 64 | Shri Khem Raj Sundriyal | Art | Haryana |
| 65 | Ms. Kollakal Devaki Amma G | Social Work | Kerala |
| 66 | Shri Krishnamurty Balasubramanian | Science & Engineering | Telangana |
| 67 | Shri Kumar Bose | Art | West Bengal |
| 68 | Shri Kumarasamy Thangaraj | Science & Engineering | Telangana |
| 69 | Prof. (Dr.) Lars-Christian Koch | Art | Germany |
| 70 | Ms. Liudmila Viktorovna Khokhlova | Literature & Education | Russia |
| 71 | Shri Madhavan Ranganathan | Art | Maharashtra |
| 72 | Shri Maganti Murali Mohan | Art | Andhra Pradesh |
| 73 | Shri Mahendra Kumar Mishra | Literature & Education | Odisha |
| 74 | Shri Mahendra Nath Roy | Literature & Education | West Bengal |
| 75 | Shri Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar | Literature & Education | Delhi |
| 76 | Ms. Mangala Kapoor | Literature & Education | Uttar Pradesh |
| 77 | Shri Mir Hajibhai Kasambhai | Art | Gujarat |
| 78 | Shri Mohan Nagar | Social Work | Madhya Pradesh |
| 79 | Shri Narayan Vyas | Archaeology | Madhya Pradesh |
| 80 | Shri Naresh Chandra Dev Varma | Literature & Education | Tripura |
| 81 | Shri Nilesh Vinodchandra Mandlewala | Social Work | Gujarat |
| 82 | Shri Nuruddin Ahmed | Art | Assam |
| 83 | Shri Othuvaar Thiruthani Swaminathan | Art | Tamil Nadu |
| 84 | Dr. Padma Gurmet | Medicine | Ladakh |
| 85 | Shri Palkonda Vijay Anand Reddy | Medicine | Telangana |
| 86 | Ms. Pokhila Lekthepi | Art | Assam |
| 87 | Dr. Prabhakar Basavprabhu Kore | Literature & Education | Karnataka |
| 88 | Shri Prateek Sharma | Medicine | USA |
| 89 | Shri Praveen Kumar | Sports | Uttar Pradesh |
| 90 | Shri Prem Lal Gautam | Science & Engineering | Himachal Pradesh |
| 91 | Shri Prosenjit Chatterjee | Art | West Bengal |
| 92 | Dr. Punniamurthy Natesan | Medicine | Tamil Nadu |
| 93 | Shri R Krishnan (Posthumous) | Art | Tamil Nadu |
| 94 | Shri R V S Mani | Civil Service | Delhi |
| 95 | Shri Rabilal Tudu | Literature & Education | West Bengal |
| 96 | Shri Raghupat Singh (Posthumous) | Agriculture | Uttar Pradesh |
| 97 | Shri Raghuveer Tukaram Khedkar | Art | Maharashtra |
| 98 | Shri Rajastapathi Kaliappa Goundar | Art | Tamil Nadu |
| 99 | Shri Rajendra Prasad | Medicine | Uttar Pradesh |
| 100 | Shri Rama Reddy Mamidi (Posthumous) | Animal Husbandry | Telangana |
| 101 | Shri Ramamurthy Sreedher | Radio Broadcasting | Delhi |
| 102 | Shri Ramchandra Godbole & Ms. Suneeta Godbole (Duo) | Medicine | Chhattisgarh |
| 103 | Shri Ratilal Borisagar | Literature & Education | Gujarat |
| 104 | Shri Rohit Sharma | Sports | Maharashtra |
| 105 | Ms. S G Susheelamma | Social Work | Karnataka |
| 106 | Shri Sangyusang S Pongener | Art | Nagaland |
| 107 | Sant Niranjan Dass | Spiritualism | Punjab |
| 108 | Shri Sarat Kumar Patra | Art | Odisha |
| 109 | Shri Saroj Mandal | Medicine | West Bengal |
| 110 | Shri Satish Shah (Posthumous) | Art | Maharashtra |
| 111 | Shri Satyanarayan Nuwal | Trade & Industry | Maharashtra |
| 112 | Ms. Savita Punia | Sports | Haryana |
| 113 | Prof. Shafi Shauq | Literature & Education | Jammu & Kashmir |
| 114 | Shri Shashi Shekhar Vempati | Literature & Education | Karnataka |
| 115 | Shri Shrirang Devaba Lad | Agriculture | Maharashtra |
| 116 | Ms. Shubha Venkatesha Iyengar | Science & Engineering | Karnataka |
| 117 | Shri Shyam Sundar | Medicine | Uttar Pradesh |
| 118 | Shri Simanchal Patro | Art | Odisha |
| 119 | Ms. Sivasankari | Literature & Education | Tamil Nadu |
| 120 | Dr. Suresh Hanagavadi | Medicine | Karnataka |
| 121 | Swami Brahmdev Ji Maharaj | Social Work | Rajasthan |
| 122 | Shri T T Jagannathan (Posthumous) | Trade & Industry | Karnataka |
| 123 | Shri Taga Ram Bheel | Art | Rajasthan |
| 124 | Shri Tarun Bhattacharya | Art | West Bengal |
| 125 | Shri Techi Gubin | Social Work | Arunachal Pradesh |
| 126 | Shri Thiruvaarur Bakthavathsalam | Art | Tamil Nadu |
| 127 | Ms. Tripti Mukherjee | Art | West Bengal |
| 128 | Shri Veezhinathan Kamakoti | Science & Engineering | Tamil Nadu |
| 129 | Shri Vempaty Kutumba Sastry | Literature & Education | Andhra Pradesh |
| 130 | Shri Vladimer Mestvirishvili (Posthumous) | Sports | Georgia |
| 131 | Shri Yumnam Jatra Singh (Posthumous) | Art | Manipur |
The Spirit of the Padma Awards
What makes the Padma Awards truly special is their embrace of India’s extraordinary diversity. The 2026 list includes folk artists from remote villages, tribal healers, grassroots social workers, scientists from small towns, and international scholars dedicated to Indian culture. Alongside celebrities and public figures, it is these quiet, unsung contributors who give the Padma Awards their deepest meaning.
The awards remind the nation that greatness is not measured only by fame or wealth — but by the depth of one’s service, the sincerity of one’s commitment, and the lives one has touched along the way.
“The Padma Awards are India’s way of saying — we see you, we value you, and we thank you.”
Source: Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India | Ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi, May 25, 2026
