Vice Admiral Manohar Prahlad Awati, PVSM, VrC (7 September 1927 – 4 November 2018) was a Flag Officer in the Indian Navy.

During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, he was awarded the Vir Chakra for his command of the Arnala-class anti-submarine corvette INS Kamorta (P77).

His father, Prahlad Raoji Awati, was a distinguished zoologist who later became a professor of zoology at the Royal Institute of Science, Mumbai.

He joined the Indian Mercantile Marine Training Ship (IMMTS) Dufferin and graduated second in the order of merit of his course.

Thousands of East Pakistanis died, and nearly ten million refugees fled to West Bengal, an adjacent Indian state.

[18] The citation for the Vir Chakra reads as follows:[2][19] Gazette Notification: 86 Pres/72 15-7-72 Operation: 1971 Cactus Lily Date of Award: 1971

Manohar Prahlad Awati was the commanding officer of an Indian naval unit of the Eastern Fleet during the operations against Pakistan in December 1971.

[3][24] An avid ecologist, Awati created a scrub jungle in his native village, Vinchurni.

[4] Awati conceptualised the "Sagar Parikrama" project launched in 2007, which entailed solo circumnavigations around the globe on Indian-built sailboats.

In 2015, Awati presented to the NDA a Webley Revolver of .38 calibre, which was handed over to him as a token of surrender by two senior Pakistan Navy officers during the 1971 War.

[5] Vice Admiral Awati died on 3 November 2018 at his home, in Vinchurni, Satara district, Maharashtra.