New Delhi, Jan 25 Veteran actor Dharmendra and Left stalwart and former Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan have been awarded the Padma Vibhushan posthumously on the eve of Republic Day 2026.
Singer Alka Yagnik, Malayalam superstar Mammootty, and late JMM founder and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren have been conferred the Padma Bhushan, while sportspersons Harmanpreet Kaur, Rohit Sharma and Savita Punia are among the Padma Shri awardees.
President Droupadi Murmu has approved the conferment of 131 Padma Awards, including two duo cases, an official statement said. The list comprises five Padma Vibhushans, 13 Padma Bhushans and 113 Padma Shris. Sixteen awards are posthumous, while 19 awardees are women. The list also includes six foreigner/NRI/PIO/OCI recipients.
Dharmendra was described as an “enduring Hindi cinema legend” whose career spanned over seven decades and nearly 300 films. Other Padma Vibhushan awardees include former Supreme Court judge Justice K.T. Thomas, acclaimed violinist N. Rajam, and Malayalam writer-journalist P. Narayanan.
Padma Bhushan recipients also include former Uttarakhand Chief Minister and ex-Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, banker Uday Kotak, tennis icon Vijay Amritraj, advertising stalwart Piyush Pandey (posthumous), veteran BJP leader V.K. Malhotra, and SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan.
Among the Padma Shri awardees are space scientist A.E. Muthunayagam, theatre actor Anil Kumar Rastogi, social activist Anke Gowda, actor Satish Shah (posthumous), paediatrician Armida Fernandez, veteran hockey coach Baldev Singh, Carnatic vocal duo Ranjani and Gayatri, and Paralympic high-jump gold medallist Praveen Kumar.
Foreign recipients include German museologist Lars Christian Koch, Russian Indologist Liudmila Khokhlova, and Georgian wrestling coach Vladimer Mestvirishvili.
The Padma Awards, among India’s highest civilian honours, are given in three categories — Padma Vibhushan (exceptional and distinguished service), Padma Bhushan (distinguished service of high order), and Padma Shri (distinguished service).
As per the list, announced on the eve of the Republic Day, five Padma Vibhushans, 13 Padma Bhushans and 113 Padma Shris have been awarded this year.
As many as 19 of the awardees are women, while the list also includes six foreigners/NRI/PIO/ OCI recipients. Sixteen awards are posthumous.
Announcing the second-highest national award for Dharmendra, it termed the late actor an “Enduring Hindi cinema legend who left an indelible influence on Indian popular culture through 300 films and a career spanning seven decades”.
The other awardees of the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest national award, are former Supreme Court judge, Justice K.T. Thomas, for contributing to judicial policy, and championing law reforms, classical violinist N Rajam, “who globalised Hindustani classical music in her 75-year career” and “pioneered Gayaki Ang vocal style and introduced Khayal Gayaki Ang” and Malayalam literateur and journalist P. Narayanan.
The Padma Bhushan awardees include former Uttarakhand Chief Minister and Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. US-based Dr Nori Dattatreyudu, late advertising maestro Piyush Pandey, tennis maestro Vijay Amritraj, banker Uday Kotak, veteran BJP leader and former MP V.K. Malhotra, and influential Kerala Ezhava community leader and SNDP Yogam supremo Vellappally Natesan.
Among the recipients of the Padma Shri are India women’s cricket team captain Harmanpreet Kaur Bhullar, former Indian men’s cricket team captain Rohit Sharma, space scientist A.E. Muthunayagam, veteran theatre actor Anil Kumar Rastogi, Karnataka social activist Anke Gowda, who built India’s largest free personal library of over 20 lakh books, acclaimed actor Satish Shah (posthumous), women’s hockey player Savita Punia, and Tollywood legend Prosenjit Chatterjee.
Other leading recipients include paediatrician Armida Fernandez, who established Asia’s first human milk bank and revolutionised neonatal care, significantly reducing infant mortality, veteran hockey coach Baldev Singh, who transformed the women’s hockey team, accomplished aerospace engineer Chandramouli Gaddamanugu, who directed the Akash Missile System from development to deployment in Operation Sindoor, prolific Carnatic vocalist duo Gayatri Balasubramanian and Ranjani Balasubramanian, and paralympic gold medal-winning high-jumper Praveen Kumar.
The foreign recipients of the Padma Shri include globally acclaimed German museologist Lars Christian Koch, who researched the theory and practice of North Indian classical music, acclaimed Russian Indology professor and linguist Liudmila Viktorovna Khokhlova, known for her contributions to Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati, and Marwari studies, and Georgian Vladimer Mestvirishvili, the “legendary freestyle wrestling coach, who mentored Olympic medallists and helped shape India into a global wrestling powerhouse”.
The Padma Awards are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The Awards are given in various disciplines/fields of activities, viz., art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc. ‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order, and ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field.
