Miss Himalaya Pageant

The inaugural Miss Himalaya Pageant was held in Dharamshala, India, on 12–13 October 2012.[1][2] The purpose of the annual event is "to bring women from the entire Himalayan region onto one platform to celebrate the beautiful cultures, people, and nature of the Himalayan region."[3][4]

Miss Himalaya 2012 Rinchen Dolma

Miss Himalaya 2012 winners

Preksha Rana

The pageant is produced and directed by Lobsang Wangyal of Lobsang Wangyal Productions, which has also been producing the Miss Tibet Pageant since 2002. Lobsang Wangyal has been producing events since 2000 "to promote art, culture, and understanding."[5][6]

The idea of "Miss Himalaya" was conceived by Lobsang Wangyal a few years ago. Work for the event has been going on since early 1996. The domain misshimalaya.com was registered in February 2010, and the event was publicly announced on 5 June 2011.[7]

The Pageant accepts applications from women from the entire Himalayan region—the ten Indian states of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, and Tripura; the hill regions of Assam and West Bengal; and Bhutan, Nepal, and Tibet.[8]

Preksha (Instagram Link)

Preksha Rana

The fifth iteration of miss Himalaya pageant 2017 competition that was held on the 7th and the 8th of October this month in Himachal Pradesh has concluded and Dharamshala’s Preksha Rana has been crowned the Miss Himalaya Pageant winner for 2017. The competition saw a tough fight between the nine finalists, eight of which hailed from Himachal Pradesh itself. The ninth and the only finalists was Tashi Lhamo who was crowned the runner up for the Miss Himalaya Pageant 2017 that was held in Tipa in Mcleodganj, Himachal Pradesh. Palampur girl Palak Thakur ended up the second runner up.

A cash prize of 1 lakh was awarded to the winner Miss Himalaya Preksha Rana while Tashi Lhamo and Palak Thakur took 50 and 25 thousand respectively. The winner of last year’s Miss Himalaya Pageant Ayushi Sethi passed on the crown to the current winner Preksha Rana. Monika Negi from Rampur, Himachal Pradesh took away the award for Miss Photogenic which was decided by public voting.

About Preksha Rana, Miss Himalaya 2017 | Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh’s very own Preksha Rana is a 21 year old B.A. literature student who was raised by a single mother. She was educated in the Mount Carmel School in Gaggal, Himachal Pradesh. Speaking exclusively to Chandigarh Metro the Miss Himalaya Pageant winner Preksha Rana said that she never had any kind of inclination towards modelling. The first sign that she can make it came in the form of a contract from Amazon India. She has been a fashion model for a clothing line in Amazon India. The Miss Himalaya Pageant 2017 winner is a classically trained Bhartnatyam and Kathak dancer and has won numerous awards in dance events in Himachal Pradesh.

When asked about how she intends to spend her prize money she won from the Miss Himalaya Pageant in Himachal Pradesh she emotionally replied that she gave it to her mother. Her mother has been an inspiration to her and always does whatever she can to fulfil her dreams. Being a single mother, she never let any of her three kids feel the absence of a father. Preksha hopes she grows up to be as strong as her mother has always been.

She added “I want the women of Himachal Pradesh and other Himalayan regions to know that we can make it big. With platforms like Miss Himalaya Pageant 2017 we have the ultimate launch pad which can give a strong kick start to our careers.”