President Murmu Confers Padma Vibhushan on Late Dharmendra, Violinist N. Rajam

New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu conferred the prestigious Padma Vibhushan awards to actor Dharmendra and violinist N. Rajam on Monday. Actor turned politician Hema Malini received the award on behalf of her late husband Dharmendra, who was given the award for exceptional and distinguished service in the field of art, at a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhawan.

For 2026, the President had approved conferment of 131 Padma Awards -- five Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri. The awards will be conferred at two separate Civil Investiture ceremonies. On Monday, President gave two Padma Vibhushans, six Padma Bhushans, and 58 Padma Shri. The remaining awards will be distributed in the second round of the ceremony to be held later.

President Murmu conferred the Padma Bhushan on Bhagat Singh Koshyari, former Uttarakhand chief minister; Shatavadhani R. Ganesh, acclaimed polymath who revived the challenging classical Indian art form 'Avadhana'; Uday Suresh Kumar Kotak, founder of Kotak Mahindra Bank; and gastroenterologist Kallipatti Ramasamy Palaniswamy. She also conferred the award posthumously on ad guru Piyush Pandey and former parliamentarian Vijay Kumar Malhotra. Pandey's wife and Malhotra's son, respectively, received the awards.

Indian women's cricket team captain Harmanpreet Kaur Bhullar, actor Prosenjit Chatterjee, para athlete Praveen Kumar and former Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) director general K. Vijay Kumar received the Padma Shri.

For 2026, the President has approved conferment of 131 Padma Awards -- five Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri. The awards will be conferred at two separate Civil Investiture ceremonies. The remaining awards will be distributed in the second round of the ceremony to be held later.