Padma Awards 2026: From Anke Gowda to Armida Fernandes; Here is the full list of ‘unsung heroes’ honoured this year

From legendary artists to unsung social workers and scientists, the Padma Awards 2026 list brings together 131 names shaping India’s cultural, public, and intellectual life.

Post Published By: Ayushi Bisht

Updated : 25 January 2026, 6:21 PM IST

The Padma Awards are among the highest civilian honours in the country

New Delhi: The President of India has approved the conferment of 131 Padma Awards 2026, recognising exceptional contributions across diverse fields such as art, public affairs, medicine, literature, sports, science, social work, and trade and industry, the Ministry of Home Affairs announced on Saturday

One of the country’s highest civilian honours, the Padma Awards are announced annually on the occasion of Republic Day and are conferred in three categories-Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri.

While Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service, Padma Bhushan recognises distinguished service of a high order, and Padma Shri honours distinguished service in any field.

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Padma Awards 2026

For 2026, the list includes 5 Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan, and 113 Padma Shri awardees, including two duo cases, which are counted as one award each. Among the recipients are 19 women, six foreign nationals/NRI/OCI/PIOs, and 16 posthumous awardees, reflecting a wide spectrum of national and global contributions

Padma Vibhushan Awardees

The highest civilian honour this year will be conferred on five eminent personalities, including veteran leader V S Achuthanandhan and actor Dharmendra Singh Deol, both posthumously. Renowned Carnatic violinist N Rajam, jurist K T Thomas, and scholar P Narayanan also feature in the Padma Vibhushan list

Padma Bhushan Highlights

The Padma Bhushan awardees include celebrated playback singer Alka Yagnik, legendary actor Mammootty, former cricketer and sports ambassador Vijay Amritraj, industrialist Uday Kotak, and advertising icon Piyush Pandey (posthumous). Political leaders such as Shibu Soren (posthumous) and Bhagat Singh Koshyari have also been recognised for their public service

Padma Shri Across Fields

The largest share of awards Padma Shri has been given to 113 individuals for grassroots and national-level contributions. These include sportspersons Harmanpreet Kaur Bhullar, Savita Punia, and Rohit Sharma; social workers from remote regions; artists preserving folk and classical traditions; and scientists and doctors advancing research and healthcare.

Notably, several awardees hail from the North-East, tribal communities, and lesser-represented disciplines such as archaeology, animal husbandry, and radio broadcasting.

Padma Awards 2026 Announced; Who are the distinguished personalities being honoured?

Padma Awards 2026: List here

Here’s the complete list of Padma Awards 2026 awardees as per the official notification-

1. Dharmendra Singh Deol (Posthumous)
2. K T Thomas
3. N Rajam
4. P Narayanan
5. V S Achuthanandhan (Posthumous)
6. Alka Yagnik
7. Bhagat Singh Koshyari
8. Kallipatti Ramasamy Palaniswamy
9. Mammootty
10. Nori Dattatreyudu
11. Piyush Pandey (Posthumous)
12. S K M Maeilanandhan
13. Shatavadhani R Ganesh
14. Shibu Soren (Posthumous)
15. Uday Kotak
16. V K Malhotra (Posthumous)
17. Vellappally Natesan
18. Vijay Amritraj
19. A E Muthunayagam
20. Anil Kumar Rastogi
21. Anke Gowda M.
22. Armida Fernandez
23. Arvind Vaidya
24. Ashok Khade
25. Ashok Kumar Singh
26. Asok Kumar Haldar
27. Baldev Singh
28. Bhagwandas Raikwar
29. Bharat Singh Bharti
30. Bhiklya Ladakya Dhinda
31. Bishwa Bandhu (Posthumous)
32. Brij Lal Bhat
33. Buddha Rashmi Mani
34. Budhri Tati
35. Chandramouli Gaddamanugu
36. Charan Hembram
37. Chiranji Lal Yadav
38. Deepika Reddy
39. Dharmiklal Chunilal Pandya
40. Gadde Babu Rajendra Prasad
41. Gafruddin Mewati Jogi
42. Gambir Singh Yonzone
43. Garimella Balakrishna Prasad (Posthumous)
44. Gayatri Balasubramanian and Ranjani Balasubramanian (Duo)
45. Gopal Ji Trivedi
46. Guduru Venkat Rao
47. H V Hande
48. Hally War
49. Hari Madhab Mukhopadhyay (Posthumous)
50. Haricharan Saikia
51. Harmanpreet Kaur Bhullar
52. Inderjit Singh Sidhu
53. Janardan Bapurao Bothe
54. Jogesh Deuri
55. Juzer Vasi
56. Jyotish Debnath
57. K Pajanivel
58. K Ramasamy
59. K Vijay Kumar
60. Kabindra Purkayastha (Posthumous)
61. Kailash Chandra Pant
62. Kalamandalam Vimala Menon
63. Kewal Krishan Thakral
64. Khem Raj Sundriyal
65. Kollakal Devaki Amma G
66. Krishnamurty Balasubramanian
67. Kumar Bose
68. Kumarasamy Thangaraj
69. Lars-Christian Koch
70. Liudmila Viktorovna Khokhlova
71. Madhavan Ranganathan
72. Maganti Murali Mohan
73. Mahendra Kumar Mishra
74. Mahendra Nath Roy
75. Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar
76. Mangala Kapoor
77. Mir Hajibhai Kasambhai
78. Mohan Nagar
79. Narayan Vyas
80. Naresh Chandra Dev Varma
81. Nilesh Vinodchandra Mandlewala
82. Nuruddin Ahmed
83. Othuvaar Thiruthani Swaminathan
84. Padma Gurmet
85. Palkonda Vijay Anand Reddy
86. Pokhila Lekthepi
87. Prabhakar Basavprabhu Kore
88. Prateek Sharma
89. Praveen Kumar
90. Prem Lal Gautam
91. Prosenjit Chatterjee
92. Punniamurthy Natesan
93. R Krishnan (Posthumous)
94. R V S Mani
95. Rabilal Tudu
96. Raghupat Singh (Posthumous)
97. Raghuveer Tukaram Khedkar
98. Rajastapathi Kaliappa Goundar
99. Rajendra Prasad
100. Rama Reddy Mamidi (Posthumous)
101. Ramamurthy Sreedher
102. Ramchandra Godbole and Suneeta Godbole (Duo)
103. Ratilal Borisagar
104. Rohit Sharma
105. S G Susheelamma
106. Sangyusang S Pongener
107. Sant Niranjan Dass
108. Sarat Kumar Patra
109. Saroj Mandal
110. Satish Shah (Posthumous)
111. Satyanarayan Nuwal
112. Savita Punia
113. Shafi Shauq
114. Shashi Shekhar Vempati
115. Shrirang Devaba Lad
116. Shubha Venkatesha Iyengar
117. Shyam Sundar
118. Simanchal Patro
119. Sivasankari
120. Suresh Hanagavadi
121. Swami Brahmdev Ji Maharaj
122. T T Jagannathan (Posthumous)
123. Taga Ram Bheel
124. Tarun Bhattacharya
125. Techi Gubin
126. Thiruvaarur Bakthavathsalam
127. Tripti Mukherjee
128. Veezhinathan Kamakoti
129. Vempaty Kutumba Sastry
130. Vladimer Mestvirishvili (Posthumous)
131. Yumnam Jatra Singh (Posthumous)