By Phuntsok Yangchen
DHARAMSHALA, October 3: Five girls from the Himalaya region will compete for the 2nd Miss Himalaya Pageant to be held on October 4-5 at Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, Dharamshala.
Lobsang Wangyal, Director of the pageant said that he had expected more contestants and cited not enough advertisement as the reason.
“We did our best such as making an announcement at a concert, and distributing publicity materials during Kalachakra in Ladakh in July. We spread the word on social networking sites. We will start working on the next pageant right after this one so that there would be at least ten contestants from Ladakh to Arunachal,” said Lobsang Wangyal.
The five girls are Dawa Dema, 22 from Thimphu; Bhutan, Jyoti Dogra, 22 from Bhagsu Nag, Himachal Pradesh; Kuenzang Choden, 23 from Thimphu, Bhutan; Priyanka Dogra, 24 from Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh and Shikha Sharma, 20 from Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh.
“The voice in me shouted and said that I want to become someone who could help those who are going through starvation, poverty and chaos. I want to bring the sunshine to those who are still living in the darkness. My mom supported me for this, which makes me more ambitious,” said Dawa Dema from Bhutan.
Priyanka Dogra from Himachal Pradesh said, “The ultimate goal of all mankind, the aim and end of all religions, is but one reunion with God, or what amounts to the same, with the divinity which is every human’s true nature.”
The competition will have three rounds, including Introduction, Traditional Costume and Interview rounds followed by the crowning of the winner and the presentation of cheques. Prize money of hundred thousand rupees for the winner, fifty thousand for the first runner-up and 25,000 rupees for the second runner-up are up for grabs.
The first Miss Himalaya Pageant for Peace and Environment was held in 2012 and Rinchen Dolma from Sikkim was crowned as the first Miss Himalaya.
