1. 1954 – C.Rajgopalchari – A prominent freedom fighter and last Governor General.
2. 1954 – C.V.Raman – A physicist.3. 1954 – S.Radhakrishnan – The second President of India.
4. 1955 – Bhagwan Dash – Freedom Fighter.
5. 1955 – M. Visvesvarayya – Mysore Deewan.
6. 1955 – Jawahar lal Nehru – First Prime Minister of India.
7. 1957 – Govind Ballabh Pant – Freedom fighter, Chief Minister of UP.
8. 1958 – D.K.Karve – Social Activist.
9. 1961 – B.C.Roy – Chief Minister of W.B.
10. 1961 – Purushottam Das Tandon – Social Activist.
11. 1962 – Rajendra Prasad – First President of India.
12. 1963 – Zakir Hussain – Third President of India.
13. 1963 – P.V.Kane – Teacher.
14. 1966 – Lal Bahadur Shashtri – Prime Minister of India. He got the award posthumously.
15. 1971 - Indira Gandhi – Prime Minister of India.
16. 1975 – V.V.Giri – Fourth President of India.
17. 1976 – K.Kamaraj – Chief Minister of Madras. He got the award posthumously.
18. 1980 – Mother Teresa – Social Activist.
19. 1983 – Vinoba Bhave – Social Activist. He got the award posthumously.
20. 1987 – Abdul Gaffar Khan – Freedom fighter.
21. 1988 – M.G.Ramachandran – Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. He got the award posthumously.
22. 1990 – B.R.Ambedkar – Creator of Indian Constitution. He got the award posthumously.
23. 1990 – Nelson Mandela – Social Activist.
24. 1991 – Rajiv Gandhi – Prime Minister of India. He got the award posthumously.
25. 1991 – Ballabh Bhai Patel – First Home Minister of India. He got the award posthumously.
26. 1991 – Morarji Desa – Prime Minister of India.
27. 1992 – Abdul Kalam Azad – Freedom Fighter. He got the award posthumously.
28. 1992 – J.R.D. Tata – Industrialist.
29. 1992 – Satyajit Ray – Film Maker.
30. 1997 – A.P.J.Abdul Kalam – President of India.
31. 1997 – Guljari Lal Nanda – Freedom fighter.
32. 1997 – Aruna Asaf Ali – Freedom fighter, got the award posthumously.
33. 1998 – M.S. Subhalaxmi – Classical singer.
34. 1998 – C. Subramanian – Freedom fighter.
35. 1999 – J.P.Narain – Politician, got the award posthumously.
36. 1999 – Ravi Shankar – Sitar player.
37. 1999 – Amartya Sen – Economist.
38. 1999 – Gopinath Bordoloi – Assam Chief Minister, got the award posthumously.
39. 2001 – Lata Mangeshkar – Playback Singer.
40. 2001 – Bisimillah Khan – Sehnai Player.
41. 2008 – Bhimsen Joshi – Classical Singer.