Param Vir Chakra

Param Vir Chakra is the highest gallantry award for officers and other enlisted personnel of all military branches of India for the highest degree of valour in the presence of the enemy.
The PVC was established on January 26, 1950, by the President of India, with effect from August 15, 1947, and presently it is the second highest award of the government of India after Bharat Ratna.

Param Vir means "Bravest of the Brave" in Sanskrit. (Param = Highest; Vīr = Brave (warrior); Chakra = wheel/medal).

The medal was designed by Mrs Savitri Khanolankar (born Eva Yuonne Linda Maday-de-Maros to a Hungarian father and Russian mother) who was married to an Indian Army officer,Vikram Khanolkar. This was done following a request from the first native Adjutant General, Major General Hira Lal Atal, who in turn had been entrusted with the responsibility of coming up with an Indian equivalent of the Victoria Cross by Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of the Indian Union. . By coincidence, the first PVC was posthumously awarded to her son-in-law Major Som Nath Sharma for his bravery in the Kashmir operations in November 1947.He died while evicting Pakistani infiltrators and raiders from the Srinagar Airport. This was when India and newly-formed Pakistan had the first war over the Kashmir issue.

The medal was designed to symbolise Rishi Dadich who donated his thigh bones to gods for making Vajra and Shivaji's sword Bhawani. The medal is of 1-3/8 inch radius and is made of bronze. In the center, on a raised circle is the state emblem, surrounding which are the four replicas of Indra's Vajra.

The decoration is suspended from a straight swiveling suspension bar. On the rear, around a plain center, two legends separated by lotus flowers. The words Param Vir Chakra are written in Hindi and English.

The ribbon which holds the PVC is of 32 mm length and purple in colour. The award carries a cash allowance for those under the rank of second lieutenant (or the appropriate service equivalent) and, in some cases, a lump-sum cash award.


* Of the 21 awardees, 20 are from Indian Army and 1 from Indian Air Force.
* Som Nath Sharma, the first recipient of the award, was the award designer Mrs. Savitri Khanolkar's son-in-law.
* 14 of the 21 awards were posthumous.
* Grenadiers Regiment have received the most number of Param Vir Chakras, with 3 awards, one each for the Indo-Pakistan 1965 war, 1971 Indo-Pakistan war and the Kargil War. The Gorkha Rifles have also received 3 awards, with the 1st Gorkha Rifles (The Malaun Regiment), 8th Gorkha Rifles and 11th Gorkha Rifles each receiving one.
* The Sikh Regiment, Kumaon Regiment, 17th Poona Horse and Jammu and Kashmir Rifles have received 2 awards.
* The highest rank to be awarded a Param Vir Chakra is that of a Lieutenant Colonel. Lt. Col. Ardeshir Tarapore, thus, had the highest rank to get this award.
* The award to Major Dhan Singh Thapa, for the battle of Sirijap in the 1962 War was initially announced as a Posthumous award. It was not known that Major Thapa was taken POW at that time.
* By an administrative mistake, the Param Vir Chakra to Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav was also announced posthumously. At that time Gren Yadav was recuperating in a hospital from his wounds. This was because there was another Soldier with the exact same name in his Unit who died in the same operation.
* Between 1983-85, The Shipping Corporation of India Ltd., took delivery of 15 ships (oil tankers) from Hyundai Shipyard and they were named after the then PVC awardees. The ships were named as "Company Havildar Major Piru Singh PVC".