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Padma Award – Photo : Amar Ujala
Sadhvi Ritambhara
Sadhvi Ritambhara of VHP was very active during the Ram Mandir movement. Because of her, thousands of women also joined this movement. She has also been an accused in the case of demolition of the disputed structure in Ayodhya. His passionate speech during the movement is still discussed today. During the temple movement, cassettes of his speeches were heard in every village and street.
Chandrakant Sompura
Chandrakant Sompura, the architect of the grand Ram temple in Ayodhya, was entrusted with the responsibility of making the map of the temple by Ashok Singhal, the international president of Vishwa Hindu Parishad. The model of Ram temple made by him was kept in Karyasevakapuram in Ayodhya. Ram temple has been constructed according to his model. He had termed Ramlala’s life consecration as the biggest moment of his life.
Pandit Ganeshwar Shastri Dravid
The auspicious time was taken for laying the foundation stone of Shri Ram Temple and consecration of life and Kashi Vishwanath Corridor. Dravid had also found an auspicious time for the nomination of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha elections. He was also included among the proposers for the Prime Minister in the Lok Sabha elections 2024.
Narayan (Bhulai Bhai)
Bhulai Bhai was the senior most worker of BJP. Was an MLA from Jan Sangh. Saffron towel was his identity. Influenced by Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay, Bhulai followed his principles. On his insistence, he left the job of education officer and joined politics in 1967. In 1974, Bharatiya Jana Sangh made him its candidate and he became an MLA.
Kishore Kunal
Former IPS officer Kishore Kunal was a resident of Bihar. After resigning from the job in 2001, he got engrossed in the world of spirituality. After that he came to be known as Acharya Kishore Kunal. He was a member of Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi Trust. He played an important role in making the sadhus of the Dalit community the priests of the temples and in the Mahavir Temple near Patna Railway Station.
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Padma Award 2025 winners announced – Photo: Amar Ujala
These celebrities were awarded Padma Vibhushan (7)
Duvur Nageswara Reddy, former judge Jagadish Singh Khehar, Kumudini Rajnikant Lakhia, Lakshminarayan Subramaniam, MT Vasudevan Nair (posthumously), Osamu Suzuki (posthumously), Sharda Sinha (posthumously).
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Celebration of 76th Republic Day in India – Photo: Amar Ujala / Agency
These celebrities were awarded Padma Bhushan (19)
A. Surya Prakash, Anantnag, Bibek Deb Roy (posthumously), Jatin Goswami, Jose Chacko Periyappuram, Kailash Nath Dixit, Manohar Joshi (posthumously), Nalli Kuppuswamy Chetty, Nandamuri Balakrishna, PR Sreejesh, Pankaj Patel, Pankaj Udhas (posthumously), Ram Bahadur Roy , Sadhvi Ritambhara, S Ajit Kumar, Shekhar Kapur, Shobhana, Sushil Kumar Modi (posthumous), Vinod Dham
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Unsung heroes also received Padma honors – Photo: Amar Ujala
These celebrities were awarded Padma Bhushan (113)
Advait Charan Gadnayak, Achyut Ramchandra Palav, Ajay V Bhatt, Anil Kumar Boro, singer Arijit Singh, former SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya, Arunoday Saha, Arvind Sharma, Ashok Kumar Mahapatra, Ashok Laxman Saraf, Ashwini Bhide Deshpande, Baijnath Maharaj, Barry Godfrey John, Bharat Gupta, Bhimavva Doddabalappa Shillekyathara, Budhendra Kumar Jain, CS Vaidyanathan, Chaitram Devchand Pawar, Chandrakant Sheth (posthumous), Chandrakant Sompura, Chetan E Chitnis, David R Simley, Durga Charan Ranbir Kala, Farooq Ahmed Mir, Ganeshwar Shastri Dravid, Geeta Upadhyay, Gokul Chandra Das, Guruvayur Dorai, Harchandan Singh, Hariman Sharma, Harjinder Singh, Harvinder Singh, Hasan Raghu, Hemant Kumar, IM Vijayan, Jaspinder Narula, Jonas Masetti, Joynacharan Bathari, K. Damodaran, KL Krishna, K Omankutty, Kishore Kunal (posthumous), L Hangthing, Lakshmipathy Ramasubbaiyar, Lalit Kumar Mangotra, Lama Lobjung (posthumous), Libya Lobo Sardesai, MD Srinivas, Madugula Nagphani, Mahabir Nayak, Mamta Shankar Kala, Manda Krishna Madiga , Maruti Bhujangrao, Miriyala Apparao (posthumously), Nagendra Nath Rai, Nirmala Devi, Nitin Nohria, Omkar Singh Pahwa, P Dachnamurthy, Pandiram Mandavi, Parmar Lavjibhai, Nagjibhai, Pawan Goenka, Prashant Prakash, Pratibha Satapathy, Purusai Kannappa Sambandhan, R Ashwin, RG Chandramogan, Radha Bahini Bhatt, Radhakrishna Devasenpati, Ramdarsh ​​Mishra, Ranendra Bhanu Majumdar, Ratan Kumar Parimu, Reba Kant Mahant, Rentalai Lalravana, Rikki Gyan Cage, Sajjan Bhajanka, Sally Holkar, Santram Deswal, Satyapal Singh, Seeni Vishwanathan, Sethuraman Panchanathan, Sheikh Shaikha Ali Al Sabah, Sheen Kaaf Nizam, Stephen Knapp, Subhash Khetu Lal Sharma, Suresh Harilal Soni, Surinder Kumar Vasal, Swami Swami Pradiptananda, Tejendra Narayan Majumdar, Thiyam Suryamukhi Devi, Tushar Durgeshbhai Shukla, Vadiraj Raghavendracharya, Vasudev Kamath, Velu Asan, Vijay Nityananda Surishwar Ji Maharaj, Vijayalakshmi Deshmane, Vinayak Lohani.
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Amit Shah, Union Home Minister – Photo:
Union Home Minister Amit Shah congratulated the award winners. He said on the social media platform ‘X’, ‘Congratulations to the personalities selected for Padma Awards today by the Honorable President. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has redefined the Padma Awards as a platform to honor eminent personalities who have empowered communities and led them towards progress. I strongly believe that this honor will fill our society with a new enthusiasm for nation building.
