Padma Bhushan Award 1960

1960 produced one of the smallest Padma Bhushan cohorts to date, just 10 recipients. The list was dominated by literary figures, most famously the celebrated Bengali "rebel poet" Kazi Nazrul Islam, alongside physician Vithal Nagesh Shirodkar, Odia public-affairs leader Nilakantha Das, and sarod maestro Hafiz Ali Khan representing the arts. No science or engineering honorees appeared that year, a contrast to the 1954 inaugural list's heavy scientific emphasis, and no foreign nationals or posthumous awards were recorded among the ten honorees.

The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service of a high order, without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex".