Nineteen-year-old law student Kaziah Liz Mejo from Kerala was crowned Miss Universe India 2026 at the grand finale held at Zee Studios in Jaipur on August 23.
Kaziah emerged as the winner from among 52 national finalists, succeeding Miss Universe India 2025 Manika Vishwakarma.
The Glamanand Group, which manages the Miss Universe India Organisation, announced the top five placements following the competition.
Tamil Nadu's Vaishnavi Gannesh was named first runner-up and was also crowned Miss International India 2026.
Anushri Satavlekar of Gujarat finished second runner-up while Maharashtra's Tejaswini Shrivastava and Uttarakhand's Anubha Vashisth were named third and fourth runners-up, respectively.
The judging panel included India's first Miss Universe Sushmita Sen; former Miss Universe India, Urvashi Rautela, Miss Universe India 2024 Rhea Singha and environmentalist and film producer Pragya Kapoor. Former Miss India Universe and Miss Universe Runner-up Celina Jaitly was also a part of the selection process.
The contestants were evaluated on confidence, eloquence and stage presence during the competition.
Following her national title, Kaziah will begin preparing for the global Miss Universe competition.
Kaziah is set to represent the country at the 75th Miss Universe pageant, scheduled to take place in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in November.
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff
