The Padma Vibhushan is the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service". All persons without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex are eligible for these awards. However, government servants including those working with PSUs, except doctors and scientists, are not eligible for these Awards. As of 2024, the award has been bestowed on 336 individuals, including thirty-one posthumous and twenty-one non-citizen recipients.
The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service of a high order...without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex." The award criteria include "service in any field including service rendered by Government servants" including doctors and scientists, but exclude those working with the public sector undertakings. As of 2020, the award has been bestowed on 1270 individuals, including twenty-four posthumous and ninety-seven non-citizen recipients.
Manoj Das was an Indian author who wrote in Odia and English. In 2000, Manoj Das was awarded the Saraswati Samman. He was awarded Padma Shri in 2001, the fourth-highest Civilian Award in India, and Padma Bhusan in 2020, the third-highest Civilian Award in India for his contribution to the field of Literature & Education.
Sahu is a surname found in India and Pakistan.
Umayalpuram Kasiviswanatha Sivaraman is an Indian musician and exponent of the Carnatic percussion instrument, the mridangam. He is a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan as well as the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.
Lambert Mascarenhas was an Indian journalist, independence activist, and writer.
Sudarsan Pattnaik is an Indian sand artist from Puri, Odisha. In 2014, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award, for his seashore sand arts.
Raghunath Mohapatra was an Indian architect, sculptor, and a Nominated Member of Rajya Sabha. He was awarded Padma Shri in 1975 and Padma Bhushan in 2001. He was awarded Padma Vibhushan in 2013 on occasion of 64th Republic Day of India.
Jasbir Singh Bajaj [September 26, 1936-January 8, 2019] was an Indian physician and diabetologist. In 2009, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian award, for his outstanding contribution to the medical sciences and research, and his efforts to improve the healthcare delivery system. Earlier he was decorated with the Padma Shri in 1981 and the Padma Bhushan in 1982. He was the ninth person in the country to receive the award for services in the field of medicine and research, and one of the very few persons to receive all 3 Padma awards.
Prafulla Kar was an Odia musician, singer, lyricist, writer and columnist. He was also famous for his Odissi Music recital. He received Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award by the Government of India in 2015 for his contribution in the field of arts.
Vashishtha Narayan Singh was an Indian mathematician and academic. He taught mathematics at various institutes in India between the 1960s and the 1970s. He is popular on social media for supposedly having challenged Einstein's Theory of Relativity but there are no credible sources that prove so. In the early 1970s, Singh was diagnosed with schizophrenia due to which he was repeatedly in and out of psychiatric hospitals and only returned to academia in 2014. He was posthumously awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of India for his contributions, in 2020.
Virendra Prabhakar was an Indian press photojournalist, cited by the Limca Book of Records as the longest serving press photojournalist. 14,458 published news photos have been credited to him. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest Indian civilian honour of Padma Shri in 1982.
Maguni Charan Das was an Indian traditional dancer of Gotipua, a traditional dance form of Odisha.
Chaturbhuj Meher is an Indian weaver, considered one of the master weavers of the Tie-dye handloom tradition of Odisha. Born on 13 October 1935 at Sonepur in Odisha, he had formal education only up to school level but learned the traditional weaving craft to join Weavers' Service Centre as a Weaver. Vayan Vihar, a handloom factory and Handloom Research and Training Center, a research institute in Sonepur have been founded by him and he is known to have trained over 10,000 craftsmen.
Gobardhan Panika is an Indian master weaver of Kotpad handloom a traditional tribal craft. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2018, for his contributions to the art of weaving.
Narayan Joshi 'Karayal' is the Gujarati and Kutchi language author and story writer.
Batakrushna Sahu is an Indian farmer from Odisha. He was conferred with Padma Shri in 2020 for his contribution in animal husbandry.
Satyaram Reang was an Indian folk performer and folk artist from Tripura. He was noted for his significant contribution to Hojagiri Dance. In January 2021, he was awarded India's fourth-highest civilian award the Padma Shri in the Arts category. After Thanga Darlong and Benichandra Jamatia, Satyaram Reang became the third renowned person from the indigenous Tripuri community of Tripura to receive such a prestigious award. Reang was also conferred with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1986.
Dr. Krishna Mohan Pathi is an Indian orthopedic surgeon from Odisha, India, who is known for his work in Odisha's tribal areas. He treats the poor for free of cost. He is the founder of Bharadwaj Gurukul Ashram, a charitable organization that helps the poor and needy with medical treatment for the last three decades, as of 2021. On January 26, 2021, the Government of India conferred him India's fourth-highest civilian award the Padma Shri.
Rajat Kumar Kar was an Indian playwright, Jagannath Culture researcher, and Radio & TV commentator. He had written more than 600 plays for radio. He was the longest and oldest active commentator of the World Famous Ratha Jatra of Lord Jagannath on both TV and Radio for more than 60 years. The Government of India honored him with the Padma Shri award in 2021 for his eminent works in Odia literature. He was a prolific writer on Upendra Bhanja literature and has seven non-fiction to his credit. He has also written a few books on Lord Jagannath.
