The Chakra Series: India's six Chakra gallantry decorations, and the portal that records every awardee since Independence

Background

The Ministry of Defence runs an online portal dedicated to the gallantry award winners bestowed since Independence, with the domain name gallantryawards.gov.in. The website gives details of the Chakra Series awardees, that is, Param Vir Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra, Vir Chakra, Ashok Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra. The portal contains information such as name, unit, year, citations and photographs of awardees till date. The Param Vir Chakra is India's highest military decoration, awarded for displaying the most exceptional acts of valour, courage, and self-sacrifice during war. At Rashtrapati Bhavan, a gallery called the Param Vir Dirgha was created in corridors that earlier displayed portraits of British ADCs; the Gallery has the portraits of all 21 Param Vir Chakra awardees on display, and it was opened on the occasion of Vijay Diwas.