The

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards given for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjun ...

, officially known as the Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the sports honour of

Republic of India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area; the most populous country since 2023; and, since its independence in 1947, the world's most populous democracy. Bounded by ...

. It is awarded annually by the

Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is a branch of the Government of India which administers the Department of Youth Affairs and the Department of Sports in India. Mansukh Mandaviya is the current Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports foll ...

. Before the introduction of the

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna The Khel Ratna Award (; Sport Jewel Award), officially known as the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, formerly known as the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, is the highest sporting honour of India. It is awarded annually by the Ministry of ...

in 1991–1992, the Arjuna award was the highest sporting honour of India. , the award comprises "a

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

statuette A figurine (a diminutive form of the word ''figure'') or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many media, with cla ...

of Arjuna, certificate, ceremonial dress, and a cash prize of ."

Name

The award is named after

Arjuna Arjuna (, , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, �ɾd͡ʒun̪ə is one of the central characters of the ancient Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He is the third of the five Pandava brothers, and is widely regarded as the most important and renowned among them. ...

, a character from the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

epic ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

'' of

ancient India Anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. The earliest known human remains in South Asia date to 30,000 years ago. Sedentism, Sedentariness began in South Asia around 7000 BCE; ...

. He is one of the

Pandavas The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, aɳɖɐʋᵊ IAST: Pāṇḍava) is a group name referring to the five legendary brothers, Yudhishtira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva, who are central figures of the Hindu epic ''Mahabhara ...

, depicted as a skilled

archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern ...

winning the hand of

Draupadi Draupadi (), also referred to as Krishnā, Panchali and Yajnaseni, is the central heroine of the Indian epic poetry, ancient Indian epic ''Mahabharata''. In the epic, she is the princess of Panchala Kingdom, who later becomes the empress of K ...

in marriage and in the

Kurukshetra War The Kurukshetra War (), also called the Mahabharata War, is a war described in the Hindu Indian epic poetry, epic poem ''Mahabharata'', arising from a dynastic struggle between two groups of cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandavas, for the thr ...

, Lord

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

becomes his charioteer teaching him the sacred knowledge of

Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; ), often referred to as the Gita (), is a Hindu scripture, dated to the second or first century BCE, which forms part of the epic poem Mahabharata. The Gita is a synthesis of various strands of Indian religious thought, ...

. In

Hindu mythology Hindu mythology refers to the collection of myths associated with Hinduism, derived from various Hindu texts and traditions. These myths are found in sacred texts such as the Vedas, the Itihasas (the ''Mahabharata'' and the ''Ramayan ...

, he has been seen as a symbol of hard work, dedication and concentration.

History

Instituted in 1961 to honour the outstanding sportspersons of the country, the award over the years has undergone a number of expansions, reviews, and rationalizations. The award was expanded to include all the recognised disciplines in 1977, has introduced indigenous games and physically handicapped categories in 1995 and introduced a lifetime contribution category in 1995 leading to creation of a separate Dhyan Chand Award in 2002. The latest revision in 2018 stipulates that the award is given only to the disciplines included in the events like

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disability, disabilities. There are Winter Paralympic Games, Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 ...

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

and

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

along with

Cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

, Indigenous Games, and

Parasports Parasports are sports played by people with a disability, including physical and intellectual disabilities. Some parasports are forms of adapted physical activities from existing non-disabled sports, while others have been specifically created f ...

. It also recommends giving only fifteen awards in a year, relaxing in case of excellent performance in major

multi-sport event A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of intern ...

s, team sports, across gender and giving away of at least one award to physically challenged category. The nominations for the award are received from all government recognised National Sports Federations, the

Indian Olympic Association The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) or Indian Olympic Committee (IOC) (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Bhāratīya Olaṃpika Saṃgha'') is responsible for selecting athletes to represent India at the Olympic Games, Asian Games and other international spor ...

, the

Sports Authority of India The Sports Authority of India, SAI, was set up in 1984 to carry forward the legacy of the 1982 Asian Games held in New Delhi under the Department of Sports. SAl has been entrusted with promoting sport in India and achieving sporting excellen ...

(SAI), the Sports Promotion and Control Boards, the state and the union territory governments and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna,

Dhyan Chand Major Dhyan Chand (29 August 1905 – 3 December 1979) was an Indian field hockey player. He is widely regarded as the greatest field hockey player in history. He was known for his extraordinary ball control and goal-scoring feats, in add ...

and Dronacharya awardees of the previous years. The recipients are selected by a committee constituted by the Ministry and are honoured for their "good performance in the field of sports over a period of four years" at international level and for having shown "qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline".

Recipients

A total of 136 awards were presented in the 1970s thirteen in 1970, followed by twelve in 1971, fourteen in 1972, seventeen in 1973, fourteen in 1974, nineteen in 1975, ten in 1976, ten in 1977–1978, sixteen in 1978–1979 and eleven in 1979–1980. Individuals from twenty-eight different sports were awarded, which includes fourteen from athletics, thirteen from hockey, nine each from cricket and volleyball, eight from weightlifting, seven each from badminton, basketball and kho kho, six each from boxing and swimming, five each from ball badminton, football, table tennis and wrestling, four from golf, three each from billiards, kabaddi, shooting and yachting, two each from bodybuilding, cycling, equestrian and lawn tennis, and one each from gymnastics, polo, powerlifting, snooker and squash.

List of recipients

Explanatory notes

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:List of Arjuna Award recipients (1970-1979) 1970-1979 Indian sports trophies and awards