Padma Bhushan Award 2017

With only seven recipients, 2017 had the smallest Padma Bhushan list of this period. Thailand's Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn was honored as a foreign dignitary recognizing India-Thailand cultural ties. Tamil journalist, actor and politician Cho Ramaswamy received the award posthumously. Grammy-winning Mohan veena musician Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and Hindi poet-scholar Deviprasad Dwivedi represented arts and literature, while Jain monk Ratnasundarsuri and yoga guru Niranjanananda Saraswati represented spirituality, and surgeon Tehemton Erach Udwadia represented medicine.

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".