Amitabh Bachchan, Prince Karim Aga Khan get Padma Vibhushan

Other recipients ofthe award are Supreme Court advocate Kottayan K Venugopal and D Veerendra Heggade of Dharmasthala Jain temple in Karnataka

Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan and Shia leader Karim Aga Khan were among five eminent personalities who were conferred with the country’s second highest civilian award, Padma Vibhushan, by President Pranab Mukherjee here on Wednesday.

Besides them, senior Supreme Court advocate Kottayan K Venugopal and D Veerendra Heggade of the famous Dharmasthala Jain temple in Karnataka were also conferred the Padma Vibhushan.

Renowned Assamese Filmmaker Jahnu Barua and computer scientist Vijay Bhatkar were given the Padma Bhushan, third highest civilian honour, during the civil investiture ceremony held at the majestic Durbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Hockey player Saba Anjum, women cricketer Mithali Raj, economist Bibek Debroy, IT honcho T V Mohandas Pai and musician Ravindra Jain were given Padma Shri.

Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal were among the prominent dignitaries present during the event.

Actor Amitabh Harivansh Bachchan after receiving Padma Vibhushan during Padma Awards 2015 at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi

Amitabh's son Abhishek Bachchan, daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and daughter Shweta Nanda were also present at the ceremony.

The Padma awards were announced on the eve of Republic Day this year. It included nine Padma Vibhushan, 20 Padma Bhushan and 75 Padma Shri.

17 recipients were women and as many in the categories of foreigners, NRIs and PIOs while there were four posthumous awardees.