Arijit Singh
A playback singer from Jiaganj in West Bengal who became one of the most-streamed voices in the world, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2025.
- Padma Shri 2025
- West Bengal
Heroes from West Bengal
People from the state of West Bengal whose work we have profiled.
Showing 1–24 of 49 heroes
Asok Kumar Haldar
A former railway mail guard from Malda who has written 13 books and about 3,000 newspaper articles on social justice, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2026.
- Padma Shri 2026
- West Bengal
Biren Kumar Basak
A Phulia master weaver who arrived as a refugee child and built a Tangail and Jamdani sari business, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2021.
- Padma Shri 2021
- West Bengal
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee
A former West Bengal chief minister, from 2000 to 2011, who declined the Padma Bhushan announced for him in 2022. He died in 2024.
- Padma Bhushan 2022
- West Bengal
Dhaniram Toto
A writer from the small Toto tribe of north Bengal who created a script for the endangered Toto language, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2023.
- Padma Shri 2023
- Mann Ki Baat #97
- West Bengal
Dharma Narayan Barma
A retired Cooch Behar teacher who has spent his life reviving the Kamatapuri language and its history, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2021.
- Padma Shri 2021
- West Bengal
Dilip Mahalanabis
The paediatrician who showed in 1971 refugee camps that oral rehydration could save lives, honoured posthumously with the Padma Vibhushan in 2023.
- Padma Vibhushan 2023 (posthumous)
- West Bengal
Dukhu Majhi
A tribal environmentalist from Purulia who has planted and tended trees in public places for three decades, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2024.
- Padma Shri 2024
- West Bengal
Eklabya Sharma
A Himalayan ecologist who led a major regional assessment and argued for mountains in global climate talks, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2024.
- Padma Shri 2024
- West Bengal
Gambir Singh Yonzone
A Darjeeling botanist and college principal who led a campaign to save the hills' old forests, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2026.
- Padma Shri 2026
- West Bengal
Gita Ray Barman
A Bhawaiya singer, composer and teacher from Cooch Behar who has sung North Bengal's folk music on radio since childhood, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2024.
- Padma Shri 2024
- West Bengal
Gokul Chandra Das
A dhak player from Maslandapur who took Bengal's festival drum to world stages and taught women to play it, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2025.
- Padma Shri 2025
- West Bengal
Hari Madhab Mukhopadhyay
A Balurghat theatre director who founded Triteertha and directed over 60 plays, honoured posthumously with the Padma Shri in 2026.
- Padma Shri 2026 (posthumous)
- West Bengal
Jagadish Chandra Halder
A retired West Bengal doctor who writes on the Matua faith and on refugees, and volunteers at workers' hospitals, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2021.
- Padma Shri 2021
- West Bengal
Jyotish Debnath
A Kalna weaver of fine muslin and jamdani saris who has revived old techniques and trained many women weavers, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2026.
- Padma Shri 2026
- West Bengal
Kaajee Singh
A Kalimpong musician who devised a notation system for the madal drum and wrote six books on it, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2022. He died in 2025.
- Padma Shri 2022
- West Bengal
Kali Pada Saren
A Santali writer and dramatist known as Kherwal Saren, whose plays toured Santal villages against illiteracy, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2022.
- Padma Shri 2022
- West Bengal
Karimul Hak
A tea garden worker from Jalpaiguri who turned his motorbike into a free ambulance for villages that had no other way to reach a hospital.
- Padma Shri 2017
- West Bengal
Kumar Bose
A tabla player of the Banaras gharana, son of Biswanath Bose and disciple of Kishan Maharaj, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2026.
- Padma Shri 2026
- West Bengal
Maa Kamali Soren
A Santhal woman from Malda who founded an ashram at Gazole in 1998 to shelter and educate Santhal children, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2021.
- Padma Shri 2021
- West Bengal
Mahendra Nath Roy
A North Bengal University chemist and founding vice-chancellor of Alipurduar University, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2026.
- Padma Shri 2026
- West Bengal
Mamata Shankar
A dancer, choreographer and actor, daughter of Uday and Amala Shankar, who carries on the Uday Shankar style, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2025.
- Padma Shri 2025
- West Bengal
Mangala Kanti Roy
A sarinda player from Jalpaiguri, famed for his bird calls and still performing past 100, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2023.
- Padma Shri 2023
- Mann Ki Baat #97
- West Bengal
Mithun Chakraborty
A film actor who won the National Award for his first film and has played lead roles in some 300 films, honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2024.
- Padma Bhushan 2024
- West Bengal