Template:Unreferenced Template:Year in India Events in the year 1956 in the Republic of India.
Incumbents
- President of India – Rajendra Prasad
- Prime Minister of India – Jawaharlal Nehru
- Vice President of India – Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
- Chief Justice of India – Bijan Kumar Mukherjea (until 31 Jan.), Sudhi Ranjan Das (starting 1 Feb.)
Governors
- Andhra Pradesh – Chandulal Madhavlal Trivedi
- Assam – Jairamdas Daulatram (until 15 May), Saiyid Fazal Ali (starting 15 May)
- Bihar – R. R. Diwakar (until 5 July), Zakir Hussain (starting 5 July)
- Karnataka – Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar (starting 1 November)
- Kerala – Burgula Ramakrishna Rao (starting 22 November)
- Madhya Pradesh – Pattabhi Sitaramayya
- Maharashtra – Harekrushna Mahatab (until 14 October), Sri Prakasa (starting 10 December)
- Odisha – P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja (until 11 September), Bhim Sen Sachar (starting 11 September)
- Punjab – Chandeshwar Prasad Narayan Singh
- Rajasthan – Maharaj Man Singh II (until 31 October), Gurumukh Nihal Singh (starting 31 October)
- Uttar Pradesh – Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi
- West Bengal –
- until 8 August: Harendra Coomar Mookerjee
- 8 August-3 November: Phani Bhusan Chakravartti
- starting 3 November: Padmaja Naidu
Events
- National income - Template:INR135,474 million
- 8 March – M. Ananthasayanam Ayyangar handles the charge as Lok Sabha Speaker.
- 20 March – Sardar Hukam Singh handles the charge as Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker.
- 21 July – The 6.1 Template:M Anjar earthquake shook Gujarat with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing 115 and injuring 254.
- 1 September – LIC of India formed
- 14 October – Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Indian Untouchable leader, converts to Buddhism along with 385,000 followers. See Neo-Buddhism.
- Gentlemen's agreement of Andhra Pradesh (1956) signed
Law
- 1 November – The States Reorganisation Act of India reformed the boundaries and names of Indian states.
Arts and literature
- 15 October – Kerala Sahithya Academy, Academy for Malayalam literature, is inaugurated by Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, the former king of Travancore.
- List of Bollywood films of 1956
Births
January to June
- 1 February – Brahmanandam, comedian-actor.
- 6 April – Dilip Vengsarkar, cricketer.
- 4 May – Kunal Basu, novelist.
- 6 May – Sujata Bhatt, poet.
- 13 May – Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, spiritual and humanitarian leader.
31 May _ Manohara Rso Kodavoor
July to December
- 14 July – Tanikella Bharani, playwright, script writer and actor.
- 19 July – Rajendra Prasad, actor.
- 29 July – Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, author and poet.
- 17 August – Anil Aggrawal, professor of forensic medicine.
- 19 October – Sunny Deol, actor.
- 25 November – Kristappa Nimmala, politician and member of parliament from Hindupur.
- 24 December – Anil Kapoor, actor and producer.
Deaths
- 6 December – B. R. Ambedkar, nationalist, jurist, Dalit political leader and a Buddhist revivalist (born 1891).