Miss Tibet
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![Miss Tibet 2005 - Photo Courtesy of Lobsang Wangyal Productions[1]](../../../upload/thumb/a/aa/MissTibet2005.jpg/250px-MissTibet2005.jpg)
Miss Tibet is an annual beauty pageant held in Dharamsala, India. It is produced by Lobsang Wangyal Productions.
The first-ever Miss Tibet pageant held in October 2002 was a huge success despite criticism from some prominent figures of the Tibetan community. The pageant was criticised as "aping western culture" and "un-Tibetan". The pageant ended up becoming a global lead story although only four Tibetan girls plunged in to the competition. In 2006, the swimsuit competition was opened to the public, and it was a surprising event because traditional Tibetan women wear clothing to their ankles. [2]
Miss Tibet 2002, Dolma Tsering, has contested in two international pageants. She also won the Miss Goodwill subsidiary title from the pageant in Malaysia and the Best National Costume from another pageant in Mexico.
The pageant has continued since, with the latest (2006) winner among a record five contestants being Tsering Chungtak, 21, a student of Sociology from Delhi University. She was also voted Miss Photogenic through online voting on the Web site misstibet.com, garnering 1740 out of 3909 votes cast. Upon receiving the award, she stated she would seek to raise awareness of issues surrounding the original 11th Panchen Lama (Gedhun Choekyi Nyima), whose whereabouts are still unknown since his abduction by the Chinese government in 1996.
The Dalai Lama seems to have no objection to the pageant. Among his comments, available in MP3 format on the pageant Web site, he offered: "…some people, they have the view that there should not be only female but male also, a Mr. Tibet – more handsome, then I think more equal. …Why? What would you think?" followed by his trademark laughter.
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