Miss India or Femina Miss India is a national beauty pageant in India that annually selects representatives to compete in Miss World, one of the Big Four international beauty pageants. It is organised by Femina, a women's magazine published by The Times Group. The reigning Femina Miss India (Femina Miss India World) titleholder is Nikita Porwal of Madhya Pradesh who was crowned by the outgoing titleholder Nandini Gupta on 16 October 2024 in Mumbai.

History

The first Miss India was Esther Abraham, from Calcutta, who won in 1947. The pageant was organised by the local press. In 1952, two Miss India pageants were held: Indrani Rehman and Nutan were the winners of the pageants. Nutan was crowned as Miss Mussorie. The pageant was held by the local press. Rehman was crowned at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai in April 1952. Rehman later represented India at the inaugural edition of Miss Universe, Miss Universe 1952. In 1953, Peace Kanwal from Punjab was crowned Miss India 1953 at the Kardar-Kolynos pageant. The pageant was organised by Abdur Rashid Kardar. Who later established herself as a Bollywood actress. In 1954, Leela Naidu from Maharashtra was crowned Miss India, and the same year was featured in Vogue magazine's list of the world's ten most beautiful women. There was no Miss India pageant from 1955 to 1958. In 1959, Eve's Weekly organised its very first Miss India contest called Eve's Weekly Miss India to send India's representatives to the Miss World pageant. Fleur Ezekiel was crowned the eventual winner. She represented India at Miss World 1959 held in London, United Kingdom. The first Femina Miss India pageant was held in 1964, where Meher Castelino Mistri of Maharashtra was crowned as the first Femina Miss India. She represented India at Miss Universe 1964 held in the United States and Miss Nations 1964 held in Spain. Reita Faria was the first Miss India to win an international beauty pageant. She was crowned Miss World 1966 in London, United Kingdom. She was the winner of Eve's Weekly Miss India contest. The same year Femina Miss India winner Yasmin Daji represented India at Miss Universe 1966 and was the third runner-up at the event. She was the first Femina Miss India Winner to be placed at an international beauty pageant. Zeenat Aman was the first Femina Miss India titleholder to win an international pageant. She was crowned Femina Miss India Asia Pacific and also won Miss Asia Pacific 1970 held in the Philippines. Meenakshi Seshadri, was the youngest contestant to win Miss India at the age of 17 in 1981. She became a Bollywood actress, appearing in the films 'Hero', 'Damini', 'Ghayal' and 'Ghatak'. She left her acting career when she married. In 1994, Sushmita Sen won the pageant and became the first Indian to be crowned Miss Universe. In the same year, the first runner-up, Aishwarya Rai, won Miss World in South Africa. The top three placements, Lara Dutta, Priyanka Chopra and Dia Mirza respectively went on to win Miss Universe 2000, Miss World 2000 and Miss Asia Pacific International 2000. In 2002, the third winner of Femina Miss India contest represented India at Miss Earth instead of Miss Asia Pacific. In 2000, international dance choreographer Sandip Soparrkar joined the contestants as official dance and grooming expert. His association continued with the pageant along with experts from other fields such as Dr. Sandesh Mayekar for smile design, Dr. Jamuna Pai for skin and hair and Sabira Merchant for etiquette. In 2010, Tantra Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. (TEPL), in partnership with Sushmita Sen, began a new pageant called I Am She – Miss Universe India and acquired the rights to send India's representatives to Miss Universe. The winner of this pageant participated in the Miss Universe pageant from 2010 to 2012. Consequently, from 2010, Femina Miss India crowned three winners as Femina Miss India World, Femina Miss India Earth and Femina Miss India International, with the third winner representing India at the Miss International pageant.

Competition irregularities

India in international pageants

Miss India has been participating in the Miss Universe pageant since 1952, starting with Indrani Rehman and in the Miss World pageant since 1959, starting with Fleur Ezekiel. In 1991, Femina Miss India also acquired the rights to send India's representatives to Miss International pageant. In 2002, the third title was changed to Femina Miss India-Earth, to designate India's representation at the newly launched Miss Earth pageant, focused on the cause of environmental advocacy and a finalist was sent to Miss International. From 2007 to 2009, three equal winners were selected going to Miss Universe, Miss World, and Miss Earth. In 2010, I Am She - Miss Universe India acquired the rights to send India's representatives to Miss Universe. Later, in 2013 The Times Group again acquired the rights to send India's representatives to Miss Universe and launched a new pageant for Miss Universe named Miss Diva. In 1970, Zeenat Aman won Miss Asia Pacific 1970. She became the first Indian and South Asian woman to win the title. In 1994, Sushmita Sen won the Miss Universe title after winning the Miss India crown and became the first Indian woman ever to win the Miss Universe crown. The same year the runner-up of Miss India, Aishwarya Rai, won the Miss World title. Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai established themselves in the Bollywood industry after winning their titles. The success of Sen and Rai spawned coaching institutions which were set up to groom young women in pageant participation skills. The number of participants in the preliminary rounds of the pageant has increased considerably. Miss India World 1997, Diana Hayden won the title of Miss World 1997. In 1999, the Miss India World Yukta Mookhey went on to win the Miss World that year. In 2000, three of the Miss India winners won their respective international pageants — Lara Dutta (Miss Universe), Priyanka Chopra (Miss World) and Diya Mirza Miss Asia Pacific. The other country to have won all three major titles in one year were Australia in 1972. In 2010, after the introduction of I Am She - Miss Universe India, the third title was changed to Femina Miss India-International and the winner represented India at Miss International pageant. In 2010, Nicole Faria became the first Indian to win the Miss Earth title in Vietnam, which leaves Miss International as the only major international pageant that has not been won by an Indian contestant. In 2012, Himangini Singh Yadu won Miss Asia Pacific World 2012 and became first Indian and Asian to win the pageant. She was sent by I Am She - Miss Universe India pageant. In 2013, Srishti Rana won Miss Asia Pacific World 2013 giving India a rare back to back victory. She is the second Indian and first Miss Diva Winner to win Miss Asia Pacific World Crown. She is also the first Indian delegate to win an international pageant that has been sent by Femina Miss India's sister pageant, Miss Diva. In 2014, Asha Bhat, Miss Diva Supranational 2014 won Miss Supranational 2014 and became the first Indian woman to win the crown. Asha is the second Asian to win the crown. The same year Ruhi Singh who was crowned the first Femina Miss India Universal Peace and Humanity won the first Miss Universal Peace and Humanity pageant held in Lebanon. After May Myat Noe, the winner of Miss Asia Pacific World 2014 pageant was dethroned, the organisation organised another pageant named Miss Asia Pacific 2014 Supertalent of the World Season 5 under Miss Asia Pacific World title, Swetha Raj who represented India won the crown, giving India a rare back to back to back victory, India is the only country to win any international pageant three years in a row, however Swetha was sent by Miss India Australia organisation.

International winners

Reita Faria of India won Miss World 1966, and became the first Asian to do so, with India winning its first Big Four title. Sushmita Sen was crowned Miss Universe 1994, becoming the country's first Miss Universe winner. Later that year, Aishwarya Rai added to India's winning streak by becoming Miss World 1994, making the country the last in the twentieth century to win both Miss Universe and Miss World in the same year. Diana Hayden won the Miss World title in 1997. Actor and model Yukta Mookhey was later crowned Miss World 1999. Six years after Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai's double wins, Lara Dutta and Priyanka Chopra repeated this in 2000, marking the most recent time (as of ) that any country has won back-to-back at Miss World and, to date, the only time that any country won Miss Universe and Miss World in the same year in the 21st century. India's appearances at the Miss Universe semifinals from 1992 to 2002 made it the first country in the Eastern Hemisphere to place annually at the pageant for at least 10 consecutive years. At Miss Earth 2010, Nicole Faria from Bangalore became the first Indian woman to win. Manushi Chhillar won the Miss World 2017 title. In 2021, Harnaaz Sandhu became the third Indian woman to win Miss Universe title, becoming the most recent Big 4 pageant titleholder from India as of. The following is the list of Indian winners in the Big Four international beauty pageants: The following is the list of Indian winners in various other international pageants:

Multiple victories in the same year

The following is the list of India's multiple victories in major international pageants:

Femina Miss India Titleholders (2017–present)

Femina Miss India Editions

Miss Diva

Established in 2013, Miss Diva is a separate pageant organization from Femina Miss India, though both are owned by the Times Group. Its primary objective is to select India's representative for the Miss Universe competition through an annual national pageant. In addition to Miss Universe, Miss Diva also sent delegates to Miss International (in 2013), Miss Supranational (since 2013), Miss Asia Pacific World (in 2013), and Miss Earth (in 2014). However, in 2024, the Miss Diva organization withdrew its license to participate in Miss Universe. They have hinted at a possible return in the future. Currently, Miss Diva sends representatives only to the Miss Supranational pageant. The most recent delegate they sent competed in the 2024 edition.

Representatives to the Big Four pageants

The following women have represented India in the Big Four international beauty pageants, the four major international beauty pageants for women. These are Miss World, Miss Universe, Miss International, Miss Earth.

Current franchise

Miss World

Miss Universe

The Femina Miss India organization did not send a delegate to Miss Universe in the years 1953–1963 and 2024.

Miss Supranational

The Femina Miss India organization did not send a delegate to Miss Supranational in the years 2009–2012.

Former franchises

Miss International

The Femina Miss India organization did not send a delegate to Miss International in the years 1963–1967, 1972, 1977, 1989, 1990, 2015 and onward.

Miss Earth

The Femina Miss India organization did not send a delegate to Miss Earth in the year 2015 and onward.

Miss Grand International

The Femina Miss India organization did not send a delegate to Miss Grand International in the years 2013, 2014, 2020, 2022 and onward.

Miss United Continents

The Femina Miss India organization did not send a delegate to Miss United Continents in the year 2020 and onward.

Miss Intercontinental

The Femina Miss India organization did not send a delegate to Miss Intercontinental in the years 1979–96, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2019 and onward.

Miss Asia Pacific International

The Femina Miss India organization did not send a delegate to Miss Asia Pacific International in the years 1984, 1990, 1991, 2004, 2006–2015, 2019 and onward.

Miss Asia Pacific World

In 2014, May Myat Noe of Myanmar was initially crowned but was later dethroned. The organizers held a new pageant, where Swetha Raj of India emerged victorious, securing India a rare three-peat win in an international pageant.

Mister India

Along with Femina Miss India and Miss Diva, the Times Group also organised Mister India pageant to select representative for Mister World and Mister Supranational. Prateik Jain was the first Mister World India under The Times Group and Jitesh Thakur was the first ever Mister Supranational India.

International victories

In 2016, Rohit Khandelwal became the first Indian and thus the first Asian to win the Mister World contest title. In 2018, Prathamesh Maulingkar became the first Indian and thus the first Asian to win the Mister Supranational contest title. This marked India, the only country to win both Miss and Mister Supranational titles.

Titleholders

Representatives to the Big Four pageants

Current franchise

Former franchise

Note: The Mister India organization did not send a delegate to Mister Supranational in the year 2023 and onward.

International titleholder gallery

Miss Universe

Miss World

Miss Supranational

Miss Earth

Miss Tourism International

Mister India

Titleholder gallery

Femina Miss India Universe

Femina Miss India World

Femina Miss India Earth

Femina Miss India International

Femina Miss Grand India

Femina Miss India Asia Pacific

Mister India