Femina Miss India facts for kids

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Femina Miss India
Formation	1952; 73 years ago (1952)
Type	Beauty pageant
Headquarters	Mumbai
Location	India
Official language	Hindi English
Owner	Vineet Jain
Key people	Vineet Jain Natasha Grover
Parent organisation	The Times Group
Affiliations	Women's pageants: Miss World Men's pageants: Mister World, Mister Supranational

Miss India, also known as Femina Miss India, is a big national beauty contest in India. It chooses young women to represent India in the Miss World competition, which is one of the most important beauty pageants in the world. The contest is organized by Femina, a popular magazine for women published by The Times Group.

The current Femina Miss India World is Nikita Porwal from Madhya Pradesh. She won her crown on October 16, 2024, in Mumbai.

History of Miss India
- Contest Changes and Challenges
India's Success in International Pageants
International Winners from India
- Multiple Wins in the Same Year
Recent Femina Miss India Winners (2017–Present)
Miss Diva Pageant
Mister India Contest
Images for kids
See also

History of Miss India

Esther Abraham, the first Miss India in 1947.

The very first Miss India was Esther Abraham from Calcutta. She won the title in 1947. This early contest was put together by local newspapers.

Indrani Rehman after winning Miss India in 1952.

In 1952, two different Miss India contests were held. Indrani Rehman and Nutan both won titles. Indrani Rehman later represented India at the first-ever Miss Universe pageant in 1952.

Miss India 1952, Indrani Rehman, with former Indian Congress leader S.K. Patil and two contest sponsors.

Contestants at the Miss India 1952 pageant in Mumbai. Indrani Rahman (third from left) was the winner.

In 1953, Peace Kanwal from Punjab won the Miss India title at a contest organized by filmmaker Abdur Rashid Kardar. She later became a famous Bollywood actress.

Leela Naidu from Maharashtra was crowned Miss India in 1954. That same year, she was named one of the world's ten most beautiful women by Vogue magazine.

There were no Miss India pageants between 1955 and 1958. In 1959, Eve's Weekly magazine started its own Miss India contest, and Fleur Ezekiel was the first winner. She went on to represent India at Miss World 1959.

The first Femina Miss India pageant was held in 1964. Meher Castelino Mistri won and represented India at Miss Universe 1964.

Reita Faria made history by becoming the first Miss India to win an international pageant. She was crowned Miss World 1966 in London. That same year, Yasmin Daji, the Femina Miss India winner, placed third runner-up at Miss Universe 1966.

Zeenat Aman was the first Femina Miss India winner to win an international title when she became Miss Asia Pacific 1970. She later became a very well-known Bollywood actress.

In 1981, Meenakshi Seshadri became the youngest Miss India winner at just 17 years old. She also became a Bollywood actress.

A big year for India was 1994. Sushmita Sen became the first Indian to win Miss Universe. In the same year, Aishwarya Rai, who was the first runner-up at Miss India, went on to win Miss World.

In 2000, all three main winners from the Femina Miss India pageant achieved international success. Lara Dutta won Miss Universe, Priyanka Chopra won Miss World, and Dia Mirza won Miss Asia Pacific International. This was a truly amazing achievement!

In 2002, the third winner of the Femina Miss India contest started representing India at Miss Earth instead of Miss Asia Pacific. Miss Earth focuses on environmental issues.

In 2008, experts like choreographer Sandip Soparrkar and others joined to help train the contestants in dancing, grooming, smile design, skin care, and etiquette.

From 2010 to 2012, a different pageant called I Am She – Miss Universe India sent India's representatives to Miss Universe. During this time, Femina Miss India crowned three winners: Femina Miss India World, Femina Miss India Earth, and Femina Miss India International.

Contest Changes and Challenges

Sometimes, there were changes in who held the titles. In 1989, Kalpana Pandit was initially named the winner, but the title was later given to Dolly Minhas.

In 2004, Lakshmi Pandit was named the winner but later gave up the title. Sayali Bhagat then received the title.

In 2008, there was a situation where Harshita Saxena, who had won Femina Miss India Earth, had to give up her title. This was because she had signed a contract with another beauty contest organizer. As a result, Tanvi Vyas was crowned Miss India Earth and represented India at Miss Earth 2008.

India's Success in International Pageants

Pooja Chitgopekar, Femina Miss India Earth 2007, at Miss Earth 2007.

Femina Miss India 2008 winners: Harshita Saxena (left), Parvathy Omanakuttan (center), and Simran Kaur Mundi (right).

India has sent representatives to the Miss Universe pageant since 1952 and to the Miss World pageant since 1959.

In 1970, Zeenat Aman became the first Indian woman to win the Miss Asia Pacific title.

In 1991, Femina Miss India gained the right to send Indian contestants to the Miss International pageant.

The year 1994 was a landmark for India. Sushmita Sen won Miss Universe, and Aishwarya Rai won Miss World. Both became very successful Bollywood actresses. Their success inspired many young women to join pageants.

Diana Hayden won Miss World in 1997, and Yukta Mookhey won Miss World in 1999.

In 2000, India achieved a historic "triple crown" when Lara Dutta won Miss Universe, Priyanka Chopra won Miss World, and Dia Mirza won Miss Asia Pacific International. This was a truly rare and amazing achievement!

In 2002, the third main title in Femina Miss India became Femina Miss India-Earth, focusing on environmental causes.

From 2007 to 2009, three winners represented India at Miss Universe, Miss World, and Miss Earth. In 2010, the rights to send contestants to Miss Universe changed hands, but by 2013, The Times Group got them back and started the Miss Diva pageant.

In 2010, Nicole Faria became the first Indian to win the Miss Earth title.

Nicole Faria, Femina Miss India Earth 2010 and Miss Earth 2010.

In 2012, Himangini Singh Yadu became the first Indian to win the Miss Asia Pacific World title. In 2013, Srishti Rana won the same title, making it a rare back-to-back win for India.

In 2014, Asha Bhat became the first Indian woman to win Miss Supranational. That same year, Ruhi Singh won the Miss Universal Peace and Humanity pageant.

India also had another win at the Miss Asia Pacific World pageant in 2014 with Swetha Raj.

International Winners from India

India has had great success in major international beauty pageants. Reita Faria was the first Indian woman to win Miss World in 1966. In 1994, Sushmita Sen became the first Indian to win Miss Universe, and Aishwarya Rai won Miss World in the same year.

Diana Hayden won Miss World in 1997, followed by Yukta Mookhey in 1999. In 2000, Lara Dutta won Miss Universe and Priyanka Chopra won Miss World, repeating the double win of 1994.

In 2010, Nicole Faria became the first Indian woman to win Miss Earth. More recently, Manushi Chhillar won Miss World 2017, and Harnaaz Sandhu became the third Indian woman to win Miss Universe in 2021.

Here is a list of Indian winners in the main international beauty pageants:

Winners of major international Beauty pageant
Pageant	Titles	Winning year(s)	Winner(s)
Miss World	6
		1966	Reita Faria
		1994	Aishwarya Rai
		1997	Diana Hayden
		1999	Yukta Mookhey
		2000	Priyanka Chopra
		2017	Manushi Chhillar
Miss Universe	3
		1994	Sushmita Sen
		2000	Lara Dutta
		2021	Harnaaz Sandhu
Miss Earth	1
Miss Earth	1	2010	Nicole Faria
Miss International	0
Miss International	0	—	—

Here is a list of Indian winners in other international beauty pageants:

Winners of other International Beauty pageant
Pageant	Titles	Winning year(s)	Winner(s)
Miss Supranational	2	2014	Asha Bhat
Miss Supranational	2	2016	Srinidhi Ramesh Shetty
Miss Asia Pacific World	3
		2012	Himangini Singh Yadu
		2013	Srishti Rana
		2014	Shweta Raj
Miss Asia Pacific International	3
		1970	Zeenat Aman
		1973	Tara Anne Fonseca
		2000	Dia Mirza
Miss Tourism	2
		2005	Sonal Chauhan
		2007	Priyanka Shah
Miss Teenage Intercontinental	1	1978	Elizabeth Anita Reddi
Miss World Amber / Miss Ambar Del Mundo	1	1978	Mala Rai Singhani
International Teen Princess	1	1974	Radha Bartake

* In 1966, India won Miss World, but the representative was sent by the Eve's Weekly Miss India organization.

In 2012, India won Miss Asia Pacific World 2012, but the representative was sent by the I Am She - Miss Universe India organization.
Asha Bhat (Miss Supranational 2014), Srinidhi Ramesh Shetty (Miss Supranational 2016) and Srishti Rana (Miss Asia Pacific World 2013) were winners of Miss Diva, not Femina Miss India.

Multiple Wins in the Same Year

India has had years where it won multiple major international pageants:

Year	Pageant	Winner	Number of titles
1994	Miss Universe	Sushmita Sen	2
1994	Miss World	Aishwarya Rai	2

2000	Miss Universe	Lara Dutta	3
	Miss World	Priyanka Chopra
	Miss Asia Pacific International	Dia Mirza

2016	Mister World	Rohit Khandelwal	2
2016	Miss Supranational	Srinidhi Shetty	2

Recent Femina Miss India Winners (2017–Present)

Edition	Year	Final Venue	Femina Miss India World	1st Runner-up	2nd Runner-up	Entrants
54	2017	Yash Raj Studios, Mumbai	Haryana Manushi Chhillar	Jammu & Kashmir Sana Dua	Bihar Priyanka Kumari	30
55	2018	DOME, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium, Mumbai	Tamil Nadu Anukreethy Vas	Haryana Meenakshi Chaudhary	Andhra Pradesh Shreya Rao Kamavarapu	30
56	2019	DOME, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium, Mumbai	Rajasthan Suman Rao	Chhattisgarh Shivani Jadhav	Bihar Shreya Shanker	30
57	2020	Hyatt Regency, Mumbai	Telangana Manasa Varanasi	Haryana Manika Sheokand	Uttar Pradesh Manya Singh	31
58	2022	Jio World Convention Centre, Mumbai	Karnataka Sini Shetty	Rajasthan Rubal Shekhawat	Uttar Pradesh Shinata Chauhan	30
59	2023	Imphal, Manipur	Rajasthan Nandini Gupta	Delhi Shreya Poonja	Manipur Thounaojam Strela Luwang	30
60	2024	Famous Studios, Mumbai	Madhya Pradesh Nikita Porwal	Union Territory Rekha Pandey	Gujarat Aayushi Dholakia	30

Miss Diva Pageant

Miss Diva is another beauty pageant organization, also owned by the Times Group, that started in 2013. Its main goal is to choose India's representative for the Miss Universe contest each year.

Miss Diva also sent contestants to other international pageants like Miss International (in 2013), Miss Supranational (since 2013), Miss Asia Pacific World (in 2013), and Miss Earth (in 2014).

In 2024, the Miss Diva organization stopped sending delegates to Miss Universe. However, they still send representatives to the Miss Supranational contest and, starting in 2025, to the Miss Cosmo pageant.

Mister India Contest

For the most recent competition, see Mister India 2024.

One – Mister World winner:
- Rohit Khandelwal (2016)

One – Mister Supranational winner:
- Prathamesh Maulingkar (2018)

Just like Femina Miss India and Miss Diva, the Times Group also organizes the Mister India contest. This contest chooses male representatives for international pageants like Mister World and Mister Supranational.

Prateik Jain was the first Mister World India under The Times Group. Jitesh Thakur was the first Mister Supranational India.

Rohit Khandelwal at Femina Miss India 2018 cropped

Rohit Khandelwal, Mister India World 2016 and Mister World 2016.

In 2016, Rohit Khandelwal became the first Indian and the first Asian to win the Mister World contest.

In 2018, Prathamesh Maulingkar became the first Indian and the first Asian to win the Mister Supranational contest. This made India the only country to win both the Miss and Mister Supranational titles.