CultureMadras State (Congress era)

Rajaji and C. V. Raman among first Bharat Ratna recipients

· New Delhi

Rajaji and C. V. Raman among first Bharat Ratna recipients
Government of India, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

C. Rajagopalachari and the physicist C. V. Raman, both from Tamil Nadu, were among the three first recipients of the Bharat Ratna.

The Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour, was first awarded in 1954. Its first three recipients were C. Rajagopalachari, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and the physicist C. V. Raman. Rajagopalachari was then Chief Minister of Madras State until April 1954, and Raman, a Nobel laureate born near Tiruchirappalli, had studied at Presidency College, Madras. Radhakrishnan was also born in the Madras Presidency.

Related events

  1. 1946

    1. 9 Dec 1946New DelhiPolitics

      Madras members join the Constituent Assembly

      With a sizeable contingent from the Madras Province, the Constituent Assembly of India held its first sitting in New Delhi.

  2. 1948

    1. 21 Jun 1948New DelhiPolitics

      C. Rajagopalachari becomes Governor-General of India

      C. Rajagopalachari succeeded Lord Mountbatten as Governor-General, the only Indian to hold the office.

  3. 1962

    1. 1962New DelhiPolitics

      Annadurai demands self-determination in the Rajya Sabha

      In his Rajya Sabha speeches, C. N. Annadurai stated the DMK case for the right of self-determination for the Dravidian south.

  4. 1964

    1. 30 Oct 1964New DelhiDiplomacy

      Sirima-Shastri Pact on people of Indian origin in Ceylon

      India and Ceylon agreed that 525,000 stateless people of Indian origin, mostly Tamil plantation workers, would be repatriated to India.

    2. 1964New DelhiPolitics

      Kamaraj becomes Congress president and 'kingmaker'

      As president of the Indian National Congress, K. Kamaraj guided the selection of two Prime Ministers.

    3. 9 Jun 1964 to 13 Mar 1967New DelhiAgriculture

      C. Subramaniam becomes Union Food and Agriculture Minister

      Under the leadership of C. Subramaniam of Madras, high-yielding seeds were introduced, starting the Green Revolution.

Open in the timeline explorer