Padma Awards 2025: A Celebration of Excellence and Heartfelt Moments

The Padma Awards 2025 stand as a powerful recognition of India’s broad talent pool and the country’s deep respect for commitment, discipline, and excellence.

The Padma Awards, among the highest civilian honors in India, were presented for the year 2025 at a grand ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan. President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the event and honoured the awardees. 139 individuals were awarded for their remarkable contributions in arts, literature, education, sports, public affairs, science, medicine, and social work. 

The awards are in three classes: 

• Padma Vibhushan (for exceptional and distinguished service)
• Padma Bhushan (for distinguished service of a high order)
• Padma Shri (for distinguished service)

This year’s selections were inclusive and diverse with 23 women awardees, 10 recipients from the Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI category, and 13 posthumously awarded.

Key Highlights

 Padma Vibhushan (7 Awardees)

• Justice (Retd.) Jagdish Singh Khehar – Public Affairs
  
• Duvvur Nageshwar Reddy – Medicine
  
• Kumudini Lakhia – Art (Dance)
  
• Lakshminarayana Subramaniam – Art (Music)
  
• M. T. Vasudevan Nair (Posthumous) – Literature & Education
  
• Osamu Suzuki (Posthumous) – Trade & Industry
  
• Sharda Sinha (Posthumous) – Art (Folk Music)

 Padma Bhushan (19 Awardees)

• Anant Nag – Art (Cinema)
  
• Shobana Chandrakumar Pillai – Art (Dance)
  
• P. R. Sreejesh – Sports (Hockey)
  
• Shekhar Kapur – Art (Cinema)
  
• Vinod Dham – Science & Engineering
  
• Nandamuri Balakrishna – Art (Cinema)
  
• Manohar Joshi (Posthumous) – Public Affairs
  
• Sushil Kumar Modi (Posthumous) – Public Affairs
  
• Others include experts in literature, public affairs, social work, and medicine.

Padma Shri (113 Awardees)

• Arijit Singh – Art (Music): The popular playback singer received accolades for his influence on contemporary Indian music.
  
• Ravichandran Ashwin – Sports (Cricket): Honored for his contributions to Indian cricket as a leading bowler.
  
• Mamata Shankar – Art (Dance & Cinema): Daughter of Uday Shankar, she called this award “the biggest day of my life” and wore a traditional Bengali saree in tribute to Indian artisans.

Other notable recipients include:

• Prof. Sonia Nityanand – Medicine
  
• Radha Bhatt – Social Work
  
• Prof. Ashutosh Sharma – Science and Engineering
  
• Vinayak Lohani – Social Work
  
• Gita Upadhyay – Literature and Education

Emotional Moments and Reflections

Quite a few recipients, including Mamata Shankar, were emotional. She explained in her interview with the media “I did not expect this. I never thought, I never imagined.”

The posthumous awards also acknowledged notable figures who have passed on, like they of Pankaj Udhas, M. T. Vasudevan Nair, and Osamu Suzuki.

The participation of the Prime Minister as a symbol of the government, alongside life-long supporters of the arts commitment to recognize the work of ordinary people and the contributions to national icons.

The Padma Awards 2025 are a recognition of India’s broad talent pool. It’s a manifestation of Indian society’s respect for commitment, discipline, and excellence. The awardees in 2025 represent the very essence of India at many levels. From global icons to grassroots changemakers as having vitality, creativity and transformative power to act.