21-yr-old Tenzin Paldon is Miss Tibet 2017

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, June 5

Twentyone-year-old Tenzin Paldon was crowned Miss Tibet 2017 in the finals of Miss Tibet 2017 pageant organised at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA), McLeodganj, late Sunday evening.

Hailing from Kollegal, Karnataka, Paldon works as a cabin crew member with Spice Jet Airlines. She is also a professional model.

This year, nine contestants from Tibetan community in exile in India, United States and Europe took part in the 15th edition of the beauty contest.

Tenzin Khechoe, 22, from Bengaluru was named the first runner-up and Tenzin Nordron, 20, from Chauntra in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh was adjudged the second runner-up.

The winner got a cash prize of Rs1 lakh, while the first and second runners-up were given Rs50,000 and Rs25,000, respectively.

The three-day event had seven rounds mainly swim suit, talent and talk and traditional costume.

An elated Paldon, who also won the Miss Photogenic title, expressed gratitude to the organisers and audience for her victory.

“I was expecting Tenzin Khechoe to win, but right now we are both winners,” said Paldon after being crowned.

“I will use this platform to inspire the younger generations in every possible manner. The title will also help immensely in my modelling career. The modelling agency has already come forward with more offers,” she said.

Tenzin Khechoe, 22, the first runner-up, who lost the crown by a thin margin, said: “I am satisfied and happy that I at least got the first runner-up tag. The experience will be helpful in my future endeavours.”

Lobsang Wangyal to sell out pageant

Organising Miss Tibet Pageant for the past 15 years, Lobsang Wangyal, who loves to call himself a Tibetan social entrepreneur, announced his intention to withdraw and sell the pageant.

“The show will go on but under a different production house. I have been doing this for 15 years. With such huge gathering and nine beautiful contestants, I think it is the best way to leave at a high,” said Wangyal, in his address before the crowning ceremony.

Stating that it was time for someone else to carry forward the legacy, Wangyal called on the interested parties to manage the contest, but made it clear that it would not be free of cost and buyers must also accept the responsibility of upholding the original aims and objectives of the pageant.

He said the price of the franchise would be decided when any interested party comes in with an offer.

Pageant started in 2002 

• The Miss Tibet Pageant was started in 2002 by Lobsang Wangyal, the Tibetan showman, despite criticism from the monk community of Tibetans
• Though the monk community still doesn’t grant its approval to the event, it has been growing popular among young Tibetans