Veteran actor Dharmendra and former Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan have been posthumously honored with the Padma Vibhushan on Republic Day 2026. The prestigious Padma Bhushan has been awarded to late JMM founder Shibu Soren, singer Alka Yagnik, tennis player Vijay Amritraj, and Malayalam superstar Mammottty. President Droupadi Murmu has approved a total of 131 Padma Awards, including 2 duo cases.
The list of awardees for the Padma Awards, announced on the eve of Republic Day, includes 5 Padma Vibhushans, 13 Padma Bhushans, and 113 Padma Shri Awards. Notably, there are 19 female awardees, along with six recipients from foreign nationals or persons of Indian origin. Additionally, 16 awards have been granted posthumously.
Other recipients of the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest national honor, include K.T. Thomas for Public Affairs, N Rajam for Art, and P. Narayanan for Literature and Education. Among the Padma Bhushan awardees are former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshyari, late advertising guru Piyush Pandey, businessman Uday Kotak, veteran BJP leader V.K. Malhotra, and Kerala community leader Vellappally Natesan.
The Padma Shri recipients encompass a diverse range of achievers such as India women’s cricket team captain Harmanpreet Kaur Bhullar, former Indian men’s cricket team captain Rohit Sharma, former UGC Chairman JNU Vice Chancellor Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar, late actor Satish Shah, women’s hockey player Savita Punia, and Tollywood legend Prosenjit Chatterjee, among others. The Padma Awards are categorized into Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri, honoring exceptional and distinguished service in various fields.
