Mouma Das
India's most capped woman table tennis player, a two-time Olympian with a record 17 World Championships, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2021.
- Padma Shri 2021
- West Bengal
Heroes from West Bengal
People from the state of West Bengal whose work we have profiled.
Showing 25–48 of 49 heroes
Nagendranath Roy
A Rajbanshi-language poet and writer from Jalpaiguri, best known for his Rajbanshi Ramayana, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2025.
- Padma Shri 2025
- West Bengal
Narayan Chakrabarty
A Kolkata chemist who has researched the problem of arsenic in groundwater for decades and edited a major book on it, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2024.
- Padma Shri 2024
- West Bengal
Narayan Debnath
The Bengali comics creator behind Handa Bhonda, Bantul the Great and Nonte Fonte, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2021.
- Padma Shri 2021
- West Bengal
Nepal Chandra Sutradhar
A Purulia Chhau dancer and mask maker whose ten-headed mask was bought by the National Museums of Scotland, honoured posthumously with the Padma Shri in 2024.
- Padma Shri 2024 (posthumous)
- West Bengal
Pawan Goenka
The engineer behind the Mahindra Scorpio who led Mahindra & Mahindra and now chairs space regulator IN-SPACe, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2025.
- Padma Shri 2025
- West Bengal
Prahlad Rai Agarwala
The founder-chairman of Rupa and Company, built from 1968 into a national hosiery brand, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2022.
- Padma Shri 2022
- West Bengal
Pritikana Goswami
A Kolkata master of nakshi kantha embroidery who has trained about 300 women in the craft, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2023.
- Padma Shri 2023
- West Bengal
Prosenjit Chatterjee
The Bengali film star known as Bumba Da, with more than 400 films over four decades, from Chokher Bali to Jubilee, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2026.
- Padma Shri 2026
- West Bengal
Rabilal Tudu
A Santali playwright from Bardhaman whose play Parsi Khatir won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2015, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2026.
- Padma Shri 2026
- West Bengal
Ratan Kahar
A Birbhum folk songwriter and singer of Bhadu songs whose "Boroloker Biti Lo" became widely known, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2024.
- Padma Shri 2024
- West Bengal
Sajjan Bhajanka
The chairman of Century Plyboards and Star Cement, who helped expand one-teacher schools for tribal children, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2025.
- Padma Shri 2025
- West Bengal
Sanatan Rudra Pal
A Kolkata sculptor famous for towering Durga idols whose studio employs about a hundred artisans, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2024.
- Padma Shri 2024
- West Bengal
Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay
A computer scientist in machine learning and computational biology who heads the Indian Statistical Institute; Padma Shri, 2022.
- Padma Shri 2022
- West Bengal
Saroj Mandal
A Kolkata cardiologist at SSKM Hospital who has implanted thousands of pacemakers and set up a subsidised heart centre, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2026.
- Padma Shri 2026
- West Bengal
Satya Brata Mookherjee
A Calcutta barrister in company law who served as a Union minister, honoured posthumously with the Padma Bhushan in 2024.
- Padma Bhushan 2024 (posthumous)
- West Bengal
Sujit Chattopadhyay
A retired teacher whose Sadai Fakirer Pathshala coaches poor students for Rs 2 a year, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2021.
- Padma Shri 2021
- West Bengal
Swami Pradiptananda (Kartik Maharaj)
A monk of the Bharat Sevashram Sangha in Murshidabad who runs 21 schools and a hospital for tribal and rural communities, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2025.
- Padma Shri 2025
- West Bengal
Takdira Begam
A Birbhum kantha embroiderer who has trained hundreds of rural women over 30 years, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2024.
- Padma Shri 2024
- West Bengal
Tarun Bhattacharya
A santoor player and Ravi Shankar disciple who changed how the instrument is tuned and played, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2026.
- Padma Shri 2026
- West Bengal
Tejendra Narayan Majumdar
A sarod maestro of the Maihar gharana trained by Ustad Bahadur Khan and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2025.
- Padma Shri 2025
- West Bengal
Tripti Mukherjee
A kantha embroidery artist from Suri who has taught the craft to many rural women so they can earn a living, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2026.
- Padma Shri 2026
- West Bengal
Usha Uthup
A pop singer who has performed for fifty years in 17 Indian and 8 foreign languages, honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2024.
- Padma Bhushan 2024
- West Bengal
Victor Banerjee
An actor who worked with both David Lean and Satyajit Ray and won National Awards in three categories, honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2022.
- Padma Bhushan 2022
- West Bengal