Padma Bhushan Award 2013

The 2013 list named 23 Padma Bhushan awardees. Cricketer Rahul Dravid and boxer Mary Kom were the only two sportspeople honored that year. Actress Sharmila Tagore represented cinema, while classical dancer Saroja Vaidyanathan covered the arts. Two posthumous awards stood out: comedian Jaspal Bhatti, who died in a car accident, and veteran actor Rajesh Khanna. American literary theorist Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak was among the few foreign-born recipients, alongside Godrej Group chairman Adi Godrej in trade and industry.

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".