The Arjuna Award, officially known as the Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the sports honour of Republic of India. It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Before the introduction of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 1991–1992, the Arjuna award was the highest sporting honour of India. , the award comprises "a bronze statuette of Arjuna, certificate, ceremonial dress, and a cash prize of ."

Name The award is named after Arjuna, a character from the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata of ancient India. He is one of the Pandavas, depicted as a skilled archer winning the hand of Draupadi in marriage and in the Kurukshetra War, Lord Krishna becomes his charioteer teaching him the sacred knowledge of Gita. In Hindu mythology, 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, Paralympic Games, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World Championship and World Cup along with Cricket, Indigenous Games, and Parasports. It also recommends giving only fifteen awards in a year, relaxing in case of excellent performance in major multi-sport events, 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 Sports Authority of India (SAI), the Sports Promotion and Control Boards, the state and the union territory governments and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna, Dhyan Chand 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 +

+ KeyIndicates Para sports

+ List of Arjuna award recipients, showing the year, sport, and gender Year Recipient Sport Gender1970 Yachting Male1970 Weightlifting Male1970 Billiards Male1970 Athletics Male1970 Table Tennis Male1970 Wrestling Male1970 Basketball Male1970 Football Male1970 Kho kho Male1970 Ball Badminton Male1970 Cricket Male1970 Hockey Male1970 Badminton Female1971 Kho kho Male1971 Table Tennis Female1971 Badminton Female1971 Hockey Male1971 Weightlifting Male1971 Athletics Male1971 Swimming Male1971 Shooting Male1971 Football Male1971 Basketball Male1971 Cricket Male1971 Boxing Male1972 Cricket Male1972 Athletics Male1972 Shooting Male1972 Golf Female1972 Hockey Male1972 Weightlifting Male1972 Billiards Male1972 Boxing Male1972 Wrestling Male1972 Badminton Male1972 Kabaddi Male1972 Volleyball Male1972 Cricket Male1972 Ball Badminton Female1973 Table Tennis Male1973 Hockey Male1973 Kabaddi Male1973 Yachting Male1973 Ball Badminton Male1973 Basketball Male1973 Equestrian Male1973 Swimming Male1973 Hockey Female1973 Kho kho Female1973 Football Male1973 Volleyball Female1973 Billiards Male1973 Wrestling Male1973 Boxing Male1973 Athletics Male1973 Golf Male1974 Lawn Tennis Male1974 Swimming Female1974 Cricket Male1974 Badminton Male1974 Hockey Female1974 Hockey Male1974 Basketball Male1974 Athletics Male1974 Volleyball Male1974 Swimming Male1974 Kho kho Female1974 Wrestling Male1974 Weightlifting Male1974 Athletics Male1975 Badminton Male1975 Athletics Female1975 Athletics Male1975 Gymnastics Male1975 Swimming Female1975 Volleyball Female1975 Cricket Male1975 Hockey Male1975 Kho kho Male1975 Ball Badminton Male1975 Golf Male1975 Kho kho Female1975 Swimming Male1975 Hockey Female1975 Cycling Male1975 Weightlifting Male1975 Basketball Male1975 Volleyball Male1975 Polo Male1976 Weightlifting Male1976 Athletics Male1976 Ball Badminton Male1976 Kho kho Male1976 Volleyball Male1976 Badminton Female1976 Cricket Female1976 Table Tennis Female1976 Equestrian Male1976 Athletics Female1977–1978 Hockey Female1977–1978 Athletics Male1977–1978 Volleyball Male1977–1978 Golf Female1977–1978 Weightlifting Male1977–1978 Hockey Male1977–1978 Badminton Female1977–1978 Boxing Male1977–1978 Basketball Male1977–1978 Cricket Male1978–1979 Athletics Male1978–1979 Powerlifting Male1978–1979 Football Male1978–1979 Athletics Female1978–1979 Weightlifting Male1978–1979 Paraplegics Female1978–1979 Kabaddi Female1978–1979 Volleyball Male1978–1979 Boxing Male1978–1979 Cycling Female1978–1979 Lawn Tennis Female1978–1979 Yachting Male1978–1979 Bodybuilding Male1978–1979 Snooker Male1978–1979 Wrestling Male1978–1979 Shooting Male1979–1980 Football Male1979–1980 Hockey Male1979–1980 Cricket Male1979–1980 Athletics Male1979–1980 Squash Male1979–1980 Volleyball Male1979–1980 Hockey Female1979–1980 Bodybuilding Male1979–1980 Basketball Male1979–1980 Table Tennis Female1979–1980 Boxing Male

Explanatory notes

References

External links Official Website