The Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award of the Republic of India , instituted in 1954 , the award is conferred "in recognition of exceptional service/performance of the highest order", without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex. The recommendations for the Bharat Ratna are made by the Prime Minister to the President, with a maximum of three nominees being awarded per year. The first recipients of the Bharat Ratna were politician C. Rajagopalachari, philosopher Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and scientist C. V. Raman, who were honoured in 1954. Recently cricketer Sachin Tendulkar was honoured with the Bharat Ratna for his lifetime contribution to the field of cricket.