Beauty Pageants are known for a long time in India. An Interesting fact to observe here is the frequency at which these Pageants have been moving, and the increase in the winning performance of Indian women on an international front.

India has always been making a mark amongst the other nations during the most prestigious Miss World Pageant ever since its inception in 1951.

Reita Faria was the first Indian to win the Miss World title in the year 1966. This pronounced the arrival of Indian women on a global platform. Later it paved the way for many more Indians to represent themselves in the world of beauty. The Indian glamour has been moving on from an embryonic stage to a blossoming stage from then onwards.

After a long hiatus, the year 1994 had a remarkable impact on Indian glamour industry when the duo Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai won the Miss Universe and Miss World titles respectively.

Aishwarya Rai was the second Miss World from India who held the crown in year 1994. Her career as an actress took off from that moment onwards. She was the first Indian actress to be a part of the jury during the Cannes Film Festival. She made her place on the cover page of the Times Magazine. She has gained a significant level of exposure in Hollywood. The reigning queen of Indian cinema remains to be the most sought after actress. She became popular worldwide by making appearances in ”David Letterman Show”, “60 Minutes” and the most famous television programme ”The Oprah Winfrey Show”.

Sushmita Sen was the first Indian to win the Miss Universe title at the Pageant held at Manila, Philippines in 1994. She has proved to everyone that she is much more than just being beautiful.

This feat was further continued by many more young women who were representing India at the international Pageants. All these women had a winning combination of beauty, poise and intelligence and have made our country proud.

List Personalities who made it to the top:

These women represent the new class of "emerging" Indian women who see themselves as successful global ambassadors at the same time maintaining their traditions.

The success of Indian women continues to grow each year bringing back the coveted title to our country. Indian has risen to fame through various achievements notched up by these women.

India still proudly continues to celebrate its victory even today, as Parvathy Omnakuttan won the first runner-up title, at the Miss World 2008 event .

All these Indian winners of international beauty Pageants not only contributed for the nations pride but they also have redefined woman’s status and identity. They have succeeded in setting up new standards of womanhood for millions of young women all over the country.

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