Indian Defence Awards : Param Vir Chakra

Which sings a song of glory,
Narrates the sacrifice story,
Emblem of a close intimacy
its the award of bravery.

Param Vir Chakra is the highest gallantry award given to the officers and enlisted personnel by the President of India to all military branches of India. Its like an achievement which they get for there extreme bravery and sacrifice.It has been giving since 1950 every year to those who presents an extreme example of their great valour in wars to defend India.

Param Vir Chakra is a symbol of great bravery and courage which is shown by our soldiers without caring of their lives. This medal tells the story of great patriotism, sacrifice and intimacy with the motherland as well. This medal is given to posthumous as well as alive soldiers. Some times the recipient might be his / her widow / widower or to the next of kin or a family member. This medal also gives some amount of pension to the recipients. Till date India has fought 4 wars where 21 soldiers got this medal of which 14 are posthumous.

Param Vir Chakra was designed by Mrs. Savitri Khanolkar who was born in Russia on 20th July 1913. Later she got married to an Indian Army Officer Major V Khanolkar of Sikh Regiment. This extremely talented lady is regarded for her great knowledge of Indian mythology because she designed this medal keeping the concept of mythology under consideration. This medal is made of bronze because bronze reflects the colour of motherland. It is circular in shape and having a radius of 1 and3/8 inches. The Ashoka's lion have increased the grace of this medal through acquiring a middle position and these are surrounded by 4 replicas of Indra's weapon "Vajra". This Param Vir Chakra symbolizes Rishi Dadhici who donated his thigh bone for the formation of Vajra for defeating Asuras.

The formation of Vajra was an example of extreme sacrifice,in the same way, this medal has come up as another example of devotion and sacrifice. Mrs. Savitri Khanolkar connected the soldier's bravery with Dadhici's sacrifice. Major Somnath Sharma who was the first recipient of this medal was the brother in law of the daughter of Mrs Savirti.

Pram Vir Chakra is salutations on behalf of every Indian to those who sacrifice their lives just to make others secured. Lots of movies have been made just to make remind every Indian about the sacrifice of great patriots. These movies like Hakikat, Border,L.O.C. have been a great source of inspiration for the youth of India as these try to bring the past in front of youth and try to bind them with their motherland. Here, we present you the story of those 21 valiant men who were awarded with this medal and their story of flight to an eternal flame.The name of those awrdees are-

* Major Somnath Sharma, (4 Kumaon)
* Company Havildar Major Piru Singh, (6 Rajputana Rifles)
* Naik Jadunath Singh, (4 Guards)
* Capt. Gurbachan Singh Salaria, (3/1 Gorkha)
* Subedar Joginder Singh, (1 Sikh,later 4 Merchanised Infantry)
* Major Shaitan Singh, (13 Kumaon)
* Company Havildar Major Abdul Hamid, (4 Grenadiers)
* Lieutinant Colonel A B Tarapore, (17 Horse)
* Lance Naik albert Ekka, (14 Guards)
* Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon, (18 Sqadron IAF)
* Second Lieutinant Arun Khetarpal, (17 House)
* Major Ramaswamy Parameswaran, (8 Mahar)
* Capt. Vikram Batra (13 J&K)
* Lieutinant Major Pandey, (-1/11 Gorkha Rifles)
* Lance Naik Karam Singh, (1 Sikh, later 4 Merchanjsed Infantry)
* Second Lieutinant Rama Raghoba Rane (Bombay Sappers Engineers)
* Mjor Dhan Singh Thapa, (3 Merchanised Infantry)
* Major Hoshiyar singh, (13 Kumaon)
* Naib subedar Bna Singh, (8 J&K)
* Grenadier Yogender Singh Yadav, (18 Grenadiers)
* Rifleman Sanjay Kumar (13 J&k)

AND THE STORY OF GREAT VALOUR STARTS WITH MAJOR SOMNATH SHARMA ………………