Miss Tibet Beauty Pageant Shifts From Himachal Pradesh to New York City

Miss Tibet beauty pageant 2018 involving a controversial swimsuit round has been shifted to New York city from originally held venue, McLeod Ganj in Himachal Pradesh. The beauty pageant which started in 2002 with a purpose to empower Tibetan women in exile used to take place at Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, Dharmshala. However, it has also been a matter of disputation with elder members of communities raising an objection to a bikini round in the beauty competition. The glammed-up Miss Tibet beauty pageant has also not gone down too well with feminists of the community on ethical grounds.

McLeod Ganj, a suburb of Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh is home to a large population of Tibetans in exile. With a consolidated aim of empowering the women of this community, the event, Miss Tibet beauty pageant started around fifteen years ago in 2002. The competition, which has held 15 editions so far has garnered much attention from international media. However, the annual event has not been a huge hit amongst the community members especially, the elderly and feminists.

Old locals of McLeod Ganj quoted their reasons for objecting the event in a Times of India report. According to them, Buddhism is all about inner beauty and not superficial attraction. "We are living in exile and the only identity we have is our religion and tradition. If we shift towards westernisation, we will be finished," said a pondering local. Feminists also seconded the thoughts on judgement based on superficial beauty.

The backlash from within the Tibetan community regarding the bikini round forced the organizers to move the event to New York City. On the pageant’s website, founder Lobsang Wangyal announced the shift of venue writing, “Happy New Year! I am happy to announce that Miss Tibet Pageant 2018 will be held in New York City. We have partnered with Engage Entertainment, who will be producing and directing the Pageant in June 2018.” They opened applications for this year’s event on January 1, with the last date to apply is 31 March 2018.

In the same TOI report, the proprietor of Miss Tibet said the modest competition was held with one participant in 2003, 2005, 2013 and 2014. Despite having no sponsor or funds, they continued to organize the event aimed towards the betterment of Tibetan women. In the year 2017, the event had nine participants, the highest number in the competition so far. 21-year-old Tenzin Paldon, from Kollegal of Karnataka, is reigning Miss Tibet beauty queen after being crowned in 2017.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 08, 2018 05:45 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).