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The beauties who made India proud in 2016

December 29, 2016 16:10 IST

Meet the gorgeous ladies who put India on the world map. 

What a rewarding year it has been for India with Mangalore girl, Srinidhi Shetty being crowned Miss Supranational 2016! 

Her win made India the first country to win the international title twice in three years.

But Srinidhi was not the only one!

Here are six Indian women who added a feather to India's cap as far as beauty pageants are concerned.

Srinidhi Shetty

Srinidhi Shetty

Photograph: Hitesh Harisinghani/Rediff.com 

Achievement: She was crowned Miss Supranational 2016.

Srinidhi Shetty quit her job as a software engineer at Accenture to chase her dream of becoming a beauty queen. 

At 24, she is the second Indian to win the Miss Supranational titleAsha Bhat was the first Indian to win the title in 2014.

Srinidhi who was born in Mumbai and raised in Mangalore at her grandmother's home.

She studied in Bengaluru and beat 80 contestants to win the title. 

Lopamudra Raut

Lopamudra Raut

Photograph: Kind courtesy Lopamudra Raut/Instagram 

Achievement: She was the second runner-up at Miss United Continents 2016.

Presently competing as one of the housemates of Bigg Boss 9, Lopamudra Raut is an electrical engineer by profession. 

She also went ahead to win the Best National Costume round at the pageant. 

Nagpur-based Lopamudra is a engineering student of G H Raisoni College.

Pankhuri Gidwani

Pankhuri Gidwani

Photograph: Kind courtesy Miss Grand India 2016-Pankhuri Gidwani/Facebook

Achievement: She is the youngest beauty queen to represent India this year. 

Lucknow-based Pankhuri Gidwani is just 18 but is already an Internet sensation.

A second runner up at Femina Miss India Grand 2016, Gidwani represented India at the prestigious pageant Miss Grand International.

Competing with 84 divas from across the globe, she was the youngest beauty queen to represent the country on an international platform after Priyanka Chopra.

Priyadarshini Chatterjee

Priyadarshini

Photograph: Kind courtesy Priyadarshini Chatterjee/Facebook

Achievement: She was the first Indian from a northeast state to represent India at the Miss World pageant. 

19-year-old Priyadarshini Chatterjee from Assam, completed her schooling in Guwahati before moving to Delhi to study at Hindu College. 

She won the title of Femina Miss India World and competed with 116 beauties across the world at the Miss World 2016 pageant.

However, she did not win the crown -- Stephanie del Valle of Puerto Rico was crowned Miss World 2016

Priyanka Yoshikawa

Priyanka Yoshikawa

Photograph: Kind courtesy Priyanka Yoshikawa/Twitter

Achievement: She was crowned Miss Japan in September 2016.

It was a tearful victory for Priyanka Yoshikawa, an elephant trainer, who was crowned Miss Japan at a beauty pageant in Tokyo this year.

Priyanka's father is Indian and the 22-year-old is the second mixed-race person to win the title. 

"Yes, my dad is Indian and I'm proud of it. I'm proud that I have Indian in me," she told AFP news agency. 

Rewati Chetri

Rewati Chetri

Photograph: Kind courtesy Rewati Chetri/Facebook

Achievement: She is the winner of World Miss University 2016

Rewati Chetri competed at the Femina Miss India 2015 and got featured in the list of top 10 selected candidates.

Later, she even won the Miss Asia sub-title at World Miss University 2016 beauty contest in Beijing, China.

The 23-year-old beauty also represented India at the Miss International 2016, but failed to make her mark.