Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award

Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award
Civilian award for achievements in the field of adventure
Awarded for	Highest adventure sports honour in India
Sponsored by	Government of India
Reward(s)	₹15 lakh (US$18,000)
First awarded	1994
Last awarded	2020
Highlights
Total awarded	139
Website	www.yas.nic.in
Precedence
Equivalent	Arjuna Award

The Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award, formerly known as the National Adventure Awards is the highest adventure sports honour of the Republic of India. The award is named after Tenzing Norgay, one of the first two individuals to reach the summit of Mount Everest along with Edmund Hillary in 1953. It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. The recipients are honoured for their "outstanding achievement in the field of adventure activities on land, sea and air" over the last three years. The lifetime achievement is awarded to individuals who have demonstrated excellence and have devoted themselves in the promotion of adventure sports. As of 2020^[update], the award comprises "a bronze statuette of Tenzing Norgay along with a cash prize of ₹15 lakh (US$18,000)."^[1]

Instituted in 1993–1994, the first awards were given for the year 1994. The status of this award is considered to be equivalent to the Arjuna Award conferred in the field of sport. Since the year 2004, this award along with all the other six National Sports Awards are conferred in the same presidential ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan usually on 29 August each year. The nominations for a given year are accepted till 20 June. Typically one award in each of the four categories: Land adventure, Water (Sea) adventure, Air adventure and Lifetime achievement are given. The number may increase in a particular year for appropriate reasons and after approval. A five-member committee evaluates the achievements of a person in a particular category of adventure taking into consideration their last three years of performance for the first three categories. The committee later submits their recommendations to the Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports for further approval.

As of 2020^[update], there have been one hundred and thirty-nine recipients. In the first year 1994, twenty-two awards were given, out of which nineteen were given to the Indian members of the 1993 Indo-Nepalese Women's Everest Expedition. In 2017, ten awards were given, out of which six were given to the members of Navika Sagar Parikrama, an all-woman sailing team for the circumnavigation of the globe. Chandraprabha Aitwal is the only double recipient of the award, once in 1994 for land adventure and second time in 2009 for lifetime achievement.