The Miss Universe India pageant was held on 23 August 2026 to select the personality that will represent India in the 2026 edition of the Miss Universe pageant. Kaziah Liz Mejo was crowned the victor of Miss Universe India in a ceremony held in Jaipur. With this achievement to her name, she will now head to Puerto Rico in November as India’s representative to the global pageant for its 75th edition.
Indrani Rehman, a practitioner of multiple Indian classical dance forms and the 1969 Padma Shri recipient, was the first Indian representative when the annual pageant was founded in 1952. Every year since 1964, candidates have represented India at Miss Universe. This year, 52 contestants competed to represent India at the prestigious international platform. Several rounds of auditions, competitions and events were held during the pageant. The 9-member selection committee tasked with the choosing of the winner included notable personalities from the previous editions of the pageant, such as Sushmita Sen, Celina Jaitly, Urvashi Rautela, and Rhea Singha.
Kaziah Liz Mejo was raised in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, before she moved to Kerala as a teenager. Speaking in an interview about her childhood, she expressed her gratitude to her parents and teachers for their support. She fondly recalled her school years, and the excitement with which she always took the stage for performances. Mejo has trained in Indian classical dance for 12 years, besides instruments such as drums and violin. She has previously been crowned Miss Teen International India in 2024, displaying her longstanding love for pageantry. Her final answer at the stage of Miss Universe India also began on this note, “I was born and brought up on stage, as a classical dancer, as an actor and of course, as a pageant lover. I fell in love with the world of pageants, with the stage, with the spotlight; having a microphone in my hand.”
The graceful answers and poise made Mejo the first contestant from Kerala to win the title of Miss Universe India. She received her crown and sash from her predecessor, the 2025 winner Manika Vishwakarma. After being crowned the winner, the 19-year-old law student remarked in the interview, “I knew, whether it’s acting, whether it’s pageantry, I wanted to take India forward with me.”
