The Padma Awards 2026 winners list, announced by the Government of India on Republic Day, features 131 recipients across Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri.
The 2026 edition stands out for its breadth: legends honoured posthumously, a sitting cricketer recognised mid-career, a Malayalam superstar receiving his first national civilian honour, and grassroots workers from India’s smallest states finally getting their due.
This article covers every recipient by category, breaks down the numbers, and provides context on the most significant names in the Padma Awards 2026 winners list.
Padma Awards 2026: By the Numbers
The Padma Awards 2026 honored exceptional achievers across various fields. Here’s a quick look at the key numbers and highlights from this year’s awards.
| Category | Total Recipients | Posthumous Honours |
|---|---|---|
| Padma Vibhushan | 5 | 2 |
| Padma Bhushan | 13 | 3 |
| Padma Shri | 113 | 9 |
| Total | 131 | 14 |
Fields Covered in Padma Awards 2026
- Art (including music, cinema, performing arts, folk traditions)
- Literature and Education
- Medicine
- Science and Engineering
- Sports
- Social Work
- Public Affairs
- Trade and Industry
- Others (Archaeology, Agriculture, Spiritualism, Animal Husbandry, Radio Broadcasting)
Padma Vibhushan 2026 Winners: India’s Second Highest Civilian Honour
The Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service to the nation. Five individuals received this honour in 2026, including two posthumous awards.
| SN | Name | Field | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Notable Padma Vibhushan 2026 Recipients
Dharmendra Singh Deol (Posthumous): One of Hindi cinema’s most iconic actors across five decades, Dharmendra received the Padma Vibhushan posthumously, recognising a career that defined mainstream Indian cinema from the 1960s onwards.
Ms. N. Rajam: A towering figure in Hindustani classical violin, N. Rajam has spent over seven decades establishing the violin as a serious concert instrument in North Indian classical music. Her recognition at this level was long overdue among classical music practitioners.
V. S. Achuthanandhan (Posthumous): A veteran Kerala politician who served as Chief Minister and remained one of the most prominent Communist Party leaders in the country, recognised posthumously for public service spanning several decades.
K T Thomas: A former judge of the Supreme Court of India, known for landmark judgments across criminal and constitutional law.
P. Narayanan: A distinguished scholar in literature and education from Kerala, honoured for contributions to Malayalam literature and educational institutions.
Padma Bhushan 2026 Winners: India’s Third Highest Civilian Honour
Thirteen individuals received the Padma Bhushan in 2026, covering art, medicine, public affairs, sports, social work, and trade and industry.
| SN | Name | Field | State / Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ms. Alka Yagnik | Art | Maharashtra |
| 2 | Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari | Public Affairs | Uttarakhand |
| 3 | Shri K. R. Palaniswamy | Medicine | Tamil Nadu |
| 4 | Shri Mammootty | Art | Kerala |
| 5 | Dr. Nori Dattatreyudu | Medicine | United States of America |
| 6 | Shri Piyush Pandey (Posthumous) | Art | Maharashtra |
| 7 | Shri S. K. M. Maeilanandhan | Social Work | Tamil Nadu |
| 8 | Shri Shatavadhani R. Ganesh | Art | Karnataka |
| 9 | Shri Shibu Soren (Posthumous) | Public Affairs | Jharkhand |
| 10 | Shri Uday Kotak | Trade & Industry | Maharashtra |
| 11 | Shri V. K. Malhotra (Posthumous) | Public Affairs | Delhi |
| 12 | Shri Vellappally Natesan | Public Affairs | Kerala |
| 13 | Shri Vijay Amritraj | Sports | United States of America |
Notable Padma Bhushan 2026 Recipients
Alka Yagnik: One of the most recognisable voices in Hindi film music across four decades, Alka Yagnik has sung thousands of songs in Bollywood and regional cinema. Her recognition at the Padma Bhushan level acknowledges a career defined by range, longevity, and commercial and critical impact alike.
Mammootty: The Malayalam superstar and two-time National Award winning actor receives his first national civilian honour. With a career spanning over four decades and more than 400 films, Mammootty has defined Malayalam cinema both artistically and commercially. The Padma Bhushan marks a formal acknowledgment of his stature in Indian cinema beyond regional boundaries.
Uday Kotak: Founder and former Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, recognised for building one of India’s largest private sector banking institutions from the ground up.
Vijay Amritraj: A pioneering Indian tennis player who reached the top levels of professional tennis when it was genuinely rare for Indian players to do so, and later served as India’s Davis Cup captain. His Padma Bhushan highlights decades of service to Indian sport.
Piyush Pandey (Posthumous): One of India’s most celebrated advertising professionals, widely credited with transforming the tone and language of Indian advertising. His campaigns for brands across sectors left a lasting mark on how Indian consumers relate to commercial communication.
Shibu Soren (Posthumous): A veteran Jharkhand politician and founder of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, recognised posthumously for decades of work in tribal rights advocacy and political service.
Shatavadhani R. Ganesh: A Sanskrit scholar and polymath, known for his extraordinary feats of simultaneous composition across multiple poetic traditions. His recognition underlines continued government acknowledgment of classical learning.
Dr. Nori Dattatreyudu: An Indian-American oncologist widely recognised for his pioneering work in cancer research and treatment, particularly in the field of multiple myeloma.
Padma Shri 2026 Winners: Complete List by Field
The Padma Shri is awarded for distinguished contributions across all walks of life. The 2026 edition honoured 113 individuals, the largest group in this edition.
Padma Shri 2026 Winners in Sports
| Name | State |
|---|---|
| Shri Baldev Singh | Punjab |
| Shri Bhagwandas Raikwar | Madhya Pradesh |
| Ms. Harmanpreet Kaur Bhullar | Punjab |
| Shri K Pajanivel | Puducherry |
| Shri Praveen Kumar | Uttar Pradesh |
| Shri Rohit Sharma | Maharashtra |
| Ms. Savita Punia | Haryana |
| Shri Vladimer Mestvirishvili (Posthumous) | Georgia |
Key Names in Sports:
Rohit Sharma: India’s Test and white-ball captain receives the Padma Shri, recognising his contributions to Indian cricket across formats. He led India to the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 title.
Harmanpreet Kaur Bhullar: India’s women’s cricket captain and one of the most prominent names in women’s sport globally, recognised for consistently raising the profile of Indian women’s cricket.
Savita Punia: India’s women’s hockey goalkeeper and captain, recognised after years of contribution that included the historic bronze medal run at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.
Praveen Kumar: The para high jumper who won gold at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, one of India’s standout para-athletes of the current era.
Padma Shri 2026 Winners in Art
| Name | State |
|---|---|
| Shri Anil Kumar Rastogi | Uttar Pradesh |
| Shri Arvind Vaidya | Gujarat |
| Shri Bharat Singh Bharti | Bihar |
| Shri Bhiklya Ladakya Dhinda | Maharashtra |
| Shri Bishwa Bandhu (Posthumous) | Bihar |
| Ms. Deepika Reddy | Telangana |
| Shri Dharmiklal Chunilal Pandya | Gujarat |
| Shri Gadde Babu Rajendra Prasad | Andhra Pradesh |
| Shri Gafruddin Mewati Jogi | Rajasthan |
| Shri Gambir Singh Yonzone | West Bengal |
| Shri Garimella Balakrishna Prasad (Posthumous) | Andhra Pradesh |
| Ms. Gayatri Balasubramanian & Ms. Ranjani Balasubramanian (Duo) | Tamil Nadu |
| Shri Haricharan Saikia | Assam |
| Shri Hari Madhab Mukhopadhyay (Posthumous) | West Bengal |
| Shri Jyotish Debnath | West Bengal |
| Ms. Kalamandalam Vimala Menon | Kerala |
| Shri Khem Raj Sundriyal | Haryana |
| Shri Kumar Bose | West Bengal |
| Prof. (Dr.) Lars-Christian Koch | Germany |
| Shri Madhavan Ranganathan | Maharashtra |
| Shri Maganti Murali Mohan | Andhra Pradesh |
| Shri Mir Hajibhai Kasambhai | Gujarat |
| Shri Nuruddin Ahmed | Assam |
| Shri Othuvaar Thiruthani Swaminathan | Tamil Nadu |
| Ms. Pokhila Lekthepi | Assam |
| Shri Prosenjit Chatterjee | West Bengal |
| Shri R Krishnan (Posthumous) | Tamil Nadu |
| Shri Raghuveer Tukaram Khedkar | Maharashtra |
| Shri Rajastapathi Kaliappa Goundar | Tamil Nadu |
| Shri Ratilal Borisagar | Gujarat |
| Shri Sangyusang S Pongener | Nagaland |
| Shri Sarat Kumar Patra | Odisha |
| Shri Satish Shah (Posthumous) | Maharashtra |
| Shri Simanchal Patro | Odisha |
| Shri Taga Ram Bheel | Rajasthan |
| Shri Tarun Bhattacharya | West Bengal |
| Shri Thiruvaarur Bakthavathsalam | Tamil Nadu |
| Ms. Tripti Mukherjee | West Bengal |
| Shri Yumnam Jatra Singh (Posthumous) | Manipur |
| Shri Chiranji Lal Yadav | Uttar Pradesh |
Notable Art Recipients: Gayatri and Ranjani Balasubramanian are one of the most celebrated Carnatic vocal duos in India, recognised for decades of performances that have preserved and extended the classical tradition.
Prosenjit Chatterjee is one of Bengali cinema’s biggest stars, with over 200 films and a parallel career in mainstream Indian cinema. Satish Shah receives the honour posthumously, remembered as a veteran of Indian comedy across television and film.
Padma Shri 2026 Winners in Medicine
| Name | State |
|---|---|
| Ms. Armida Fernandez | Maharashtra |
| Shri Guduru Venkat Rao | Telangana |
| Shri H V Hande | Tamil Nadu |
| Shri Kewal Krishan Thakral | Uttar Pradesh |
| Dr. Padma Gurmet | Ladakh |
| Shri Palkonda Vijay Anand Reddy | Telangana |
| Shri Prateek Sharma | USA |
| Dr. Punniamurthy Natesan | Tamil Nadu |
| Shri Rajendra Prasad | Uttar Pradesh |
| Shri Ramchandra Godbole & Ms. Suneeta Godbole (Duo) | Chhattisgarh |
| Shri Saroj Mandal | West Bengal |
| Dr. Suresh Hanagavadi | Karnataka |
| Shri Shyam Sundar | Uttar Pradesh |
Padma Shri 2026 Winners in Literature and Education
| Name | State |
|---|---|
| Shri Asok Kumar Haldar | West Bengal |
| Shri Charan Hembram | Odisha |
| Shri Gambir Singh Yonzone | West Bengal |
| Shri Kailash Chandra Pant | Madhya Pradesh |
| Ms. Liudmila Viktorovna Khokhlova | Russia |
| Shri Mahendra Kumar Mishra | Odisha |
| Shri Mahendra Nath Roy | West Bengal |
| Shri Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar | Delhi |
| Ms. Mangala Kapoor | Uttar Pradesh |
| Shri Naresh Chandra Dev Varma | Tripura |
| Dr. Prabhakar Basavprabhu Kore | Karnataka |
| Shri Rabilal Tudu | West Bengal |
| Shri Ratilal Borisagar | Gujarat |
| Prof. Shafi Shauq | Jammu and Kashmir |
| Shri Shashi Shekhar Vempati | Karnataka |
| Ms. Sivasankari | Tamil Nadu |
| Shri Vempaty Kutumba Sastry | Andhra Pradesh |
Padma Shri 2026 Winners in Science and Engineering
| Name | State |
|---|---|
| Shri A E Muthunayagam | Kerala |
| Shri Ashok Kumar Singh | Uttar Pradesh |
| Shri Chandramouli Gaddamanugu | Telangana |
| Shri Gopal Ji Trivedi | Bihar |
| Shri Juzer Vasi | Maharashtra |
| Shri K Ramasamy | Tamil Nadu |
| Shri Krishnamurthy Balasubramanian | Telangana |
| Shri Kumarasamy Thangaraj | Telangana |
| Shri Prem Lal Gautam | Himachal Pradesh |
| Ms. Shubha Venkatesha Iyengar | Karnataka |
| Shri Veezhinathan Kamakoti | Tamil Nadu |
Padma Shri 2026 Winners in Social Work
| Name | State |
|---|---|
| Shri Anke Gowda M. | Karnataka |
| Shri Brij Lal Bhat | Jammu and Kashmir |
| Dr. Budhri Tati | Chhattisgarh |
| Shri Hally War | Meghalaya |
| Shri Inderjit Singh Sidhu | Chandigarh |
| Shri Janardan Bapurao Bothe | Maharashtra |
| Ms. Kollakal Devaki Amma G | Kerala |
| Shri Mohan Nagar | Madhya Pradesh |
| Shri Nilesh Vinodchandra Mandlewala | Gujarat |
| Ms. S G Susheelamma | Karnataka |
| Swami Brahmdev Ji Maharaj | Rajasthan |
| Shri Techi Gubin | Arunachal Pradesh |
Padma Shri 2026 Winners in Other Fields
| Name | Field | State |
|---|---|---|
| Shri Buddha Rashmi Mani | Archaeology | Uttar Pradesh |
| Shri Narayan Vyas | Archaeology | Madhya Pradesh |
| Shri Jogesh Deuri | Agriculture | Assam |
| Shri Raghupat Singh (Posthumous) | Agriculture | Uttar Pradesh |
| Shri Shrirang Devaba Lad | Agriculture | Maharashtra |
| Shri Rama Reddy Mamidi (Posthumous) | Animal Husbandry | Telangana |
| Sant Niranjan Dass | Spiritualism | Punjab |
| Shri Ramamurthy Sreedher | Radio Broadcasting | Delhi |
Padma Shri 2026 Winners in Trade and Industry
| Name | State |
|---|---|
| Shri Ashok Khade | Maharashtra |
| Shri Satyanarayan Nuwal | Maharashtra |
| Shri T T Jagannathan (Posthumous) | Karnataka |
Padma Shri 2026 Winners in Civil Service
| Name | State |
|---|---|
| Shri K Vijay Kumar | Tamil Nadu |
| Shri R V S Mani | Delhi |
What Makes the Padma Awards 2026 List Stand Out
Several features distinguish this year’s list from previous editions:
- Three Posthumous Padma Bhushans: Piyush Pandey, Shibu Soren, and V. K. Malhotra each received posthumous recognition at a category level that typically goes to living individuals, signalling deliberate effort to recognise delayed overdue cases.
- International Recipients: Recipients from the USA, Russia, Germany, and Georgia appear in the 2026 list, reflecting the NRI and diaspora contributions honoured through the Padma Shri.
- Strong Sports Representation: Eight Padma Shri recipients in the sports category, covering cricket, hockey, para-athletics, lawn bowls, and wrestling, makes 2026 one of the more sports-heavy lists in recent years.
- Regional Language Arts: Folk and classical artists from Nagaland, Manipur, Assam, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh appear prominently, continuing the trend of recognising India’s cultural plurality beyond metropolitan art forms.
- Women Awardees: Women recipients appear across all three categories and across fields including sports, art, medicine, social work, and science.
Conclusion: Padma Awards 2026 and the Scale of Recognition
The Padma Awards 2026 winners list reflects the full spectrum of Indian achievement, from international cricket pitches to remote tribal communities, from classical concert stages to cancer research laboratories abroad.
With 131 recipients spanning every region, age group, and discipline, the 2026 edition is among the most geographically diverse in recent memory.
The strong posthumous count and the inclusion of grassroots workers alongside mainstream celebrities ensures this year’s list reads as a genuine national survey rather than a celebrity register.
FAQs
The Padma Awards 2026 were announced on the eve of Republic Day in January 2026 and are conferred at a formal ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan later in the year.
A total of 131 individuals were honoured: 5 with Padma Vibhushan, 13 with Padma Bhushan, and 113 with Padma Shri.
Fourteen recipients were honoured posthumously across all three categories.
Rohit Sharma, Harmanpreet Kaur, Savita Punia, and Praveen Kumar are among the most prominent sports figures in the 2026 list.
Yes. The Bharat Ratna is India’s highest civilian honour. Below it, in descending order, come Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri.
