Miss India or Femina Miss India Contest is a nationally recognised and organised beauty pageant in India. Participants across the country come together to compete with each other for this prestigious title. The topmost participants go on to become representatives of India in the Big Four major International Beauty Pageants such as Miss World, Miss Universe, Miss International and Miss Earth.
Who was the winner of the first Miss India Contest conducted?
The Winner of the First Miss India contest was Esther Victoria Abraham (Pramila) from West Bengal. The First Miss India Contest was conducted by a local press in 1947. She was an actress, an Indian Model and the first woman film producer in the Hindi Film Industry. In 1967, her daughter, Naqi Jahan was crowned as Eve’s Weekly Miss India. Esther Victoria Abraham (Pramila) and Naqi Jahan are the only mother-daughter duo to date to both win Miss India Title.
When was the first Femina Miss India?
The first Femina Miss India pageant was held in the year 1964 and Meher Castelino Mistri has crowned the first Femina Miss India. Femina is one of the leading Women’s Magazines published by Bennet Coleman & Co. Ltd (Times Group). Meher Castelino Mistri later became a fashion designer and editor. She was a trendsetter in the fashion industry in the ‘60s and ‘70s.
List of Miss India Winners
Here is the List of Miss India Winners since its inception in 1947. The first Miss India Contest was organised by a Local Press. Later, in 1967, Femina Magazine became the official organiser of the Miss India Contents. Therefore, Miss India Contests are referred to as the Femina Miss India.
| Year | Names | State |
| 1947 | Esther Victoria Abraham (Pramila) | West Bengal |
| 1952 | Indrani Rahman | Tamil Nadu |
| 1953 | Peace Kanwal | Punjab |
| 1954 | Leela Naidu | Maharashtra |
| 1959 | Fleur Ezekiel | Maharashtra |
| 1960 | Lona Pinto | Maharashtra |
| 1961 | Veronica Leonara Torcato | Maharashtra |
| 1962 | Ferial Karim | Maharashtra |
| 1964 | Meher Castelino Mistri | Maharashtra |
| 1965 | Persis Khambatta | Maharashtra |
| 1966 | Yamin Daji | Maharashtra |
| 1967 | Nayyara Mirza | New Delhi |
| 1968 | Anjum Mumtaz Barg | Maharashtra |
| 1969 | Kavita Bhambhani | Maharashtra |
| 1970 | Veena Sanjani | Maharashtra |
| 1971 | Raj Gill | Maharashtra |
| 1972 | Roopa Satyan | Maharashtra |
| 1973 | Farzana Habib | Maharashtra |
| 1974 | Shalini Bhavnath Dholakia | Maharashtra |
| 1975 | Meenakshi Kurpad | Maharashtra |
| 1976 | Naina Sudhir Balsavar | Uttar Pradesh |
| 1977 | Nalini Viswanathan | Tamil Nadu |
| 1978 | Alamjeet Kaur Chauhan | Punjab |
| 1979 | Swaroop Sampat | Maharashtra |
| 1980 | Sangeeta Bijlani | Maharashtra |
| 1981 | Rachita Kumar | Maharashtra |
| 1982 | Pamela Singh | New Delhi |
| 1983 | Rekha Hande | Karnataka |
| 1984 | Juhi Chawla | Punjab |
| 1985 | Sonu Walia | Punjab |
| 1986 | Mehr Jessia | Maharashtra |
| 1987 | Priyadarshini Pradhan | Maharashtra |
| 1988 | Dolly Minhas | Punjab |
| 1989/1990 | Suzanne Sablok | Maharashtra |
| 1991 | Christabelle Howie | Tamil Nadu |
| 1992 | Madhu Sapre | Maharashtra |
| 1993 | Namrata Shirodkar | Maharashtra |
| 1994 | Sushmita Sen | New Delhi |
| 1995 | Manpreet Brar | New Delhi |
| 1996 | Sandhya Chib | Karnataka |
| 1997 | Nafisa Joseph | Karnataka |
| 1998 | Lymaraina D’ Souza | Karnataka |
| 1999 | Gul Pannag | Punjab |
| 2000 | Lara Dutta | Karnataka |
| 2001 | Celina Jaitley | West Bengal |
| 2002 | Neha Dhupia | New Delhi |
| 2003 | Nikita Anand | New Delhi |
| 2004 | Tanushree Dutta | Jharkhand |
| 2005 | Amrita Thapar | Punjab |
| 2006 | Neha Kapur | New Delhi |
| 2007 | Sarah Jane Dias | Karnataka |
| 2008 | Parvathy Omanakuttan | Kerala |
| 2009 | Pooja Chopra | Maharashtra |
| 2010 | Manasvi Mamgai | Uttarakhand |
| 2011 | Kanishtha Dhankar | Haryana |
| 2012 | Vanya Mishra | Punjab |
| 2013 | Navneet Kaur Dhillon | Punjab |
| 2014 | Koyal Rana | New Delhi |
| 2015 | Aditi Arya | New Delhi |
| 2016 | Priyadarshini Chatterjee | Assam |
| 2017 | Manushi Chhillar | Haryana |
| 2018 | Anukreethy Vas | Tamil Nadu |
| 2019 | Suman Rao | Rajasthan |
| 2021 | Manasa Varanasi | Telangana |
| 2022 | Sini Shetty | Karnataka |
List of Miss India Winners: FAQs
Q: Who is Femina Miss India 2022?
A: The winner of the Femina Miss India 2022 Contest is Sini Shetty from Karnataka.
Q: Who was the winner of the first Miss India pageant in the country?
A: The woman to win Miss India Title was Pramila (Esther Victoria Abraham) hailing from Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta) in 1947.
Q: When was the first Femina Miss India held?
A: The first Femina Miss India Pageant was held in 1964 where Meher Castelino Mistri was crowned the winner.
Q: What is the age limit to apply for Femina Miss India?
A: The Applicants Applying for Femina Miss India must be in the age bracket of 18 years to 25 years.
