New Delhi: Nineteen-year-old Kaziah Liz Mejo from Kerala has been crowned Miss Universe India 2026, marking a striking new chapter in her pageant journey.
The grand finale was held in Jaipur on August 23, where the young law student and model emerged from a field of 52 national finalists to claim the coveted crown.
The victory was made even more memorable by the presence of two generations of Indian pageantry icons on the jury – Sushmita Sen, who won the Miss Universe crown for India in 1994, and Urvashi Rautela, Miss Universe India 2015. Former Miss Universe India titleholder Celina Jaitly and other prominent names from the entertainment and pageant industries were also part of the judging panel.
Kaziah Liz Mejo: From Kerala to the national crown
Mejo, who hails from Mavelikkara in Kerala, is a law student and model. She has already made her mark on the international pageant circuit. In 2025, she represented India at Miss Teen International, held in Jaipur, and finished as the first runner-up behind Spain’s Lorena Ruiz.
She subsequently won the Miss Universe Kerala 2026 title, setting the stage for her national breakthrough. Reports say she grew up in Abu Dhabi and began classical dance training there at a young age before pursuing her studies and modelling career.
Her latest win now puts her on course for the international Miss Universe stage. She is expected to represent India at the 75th Miss Universe pageant in Puerto Rico in November 2026.
Urvashi Rautela relives her own crowning moment
For jury member Urvashi Rautela, the Jaipur finale carried a deeply personal significance. Speaking after the event, she recalled being crowned 14 years ago by Sushmita Sen, whom she described as her guru and mentor.
“I just want to say that the feeling was extremely good,” Rautela said, recalling how memories of her own crowning came rushing back while sitting alongside Sen. She said Sen herself asked whether she remembered those moments and the journey, prompting an emotional flashback to the day she was crowned.
Rautela added that she could still remember having the same expression Mejo had after winning — the feeling of being “on top of the world”.
The reunion of Sen and Rautela, both former national titleholders, therefore became one of the defining emotional moments of this year’s competition.
“This one’s for you, India”: Kaziah’s promise
For Mejo, winning the crown in the presence of two icons was the perfect beginning to her international journey.
“I think this is the best way I could start my journey with two absolute icons, and with so much of India’s spirit behind me,” she said after her victory. “This is exactly how I wanted to start my journey towards the universe. And this one’s for you, India. I will bring the crown back home.”
Her victory also means that reigning Miss Universe India Manika Vishwakarma has passed on the national crown to her successor.
The 2026 edition, the third under the current Miss Universe India franchise, brought 52 finalists to Jaipur for the final stages of the competition. The final five were Mejo, Tamil Nadu’s Vaishnavi Ganesh, Maharashtra’s Tejaswini Shrivastava, Gujarat’s Anushri Satavlekar and Uttarakhand’s Anubha Vashisth. Ganesh finished as first runner-up, while Satavlekar was named second runner-up.
With the national title secured, Mejo’s next challenge will be considerably bigger: carrying India’s hopes onto the Miss Universe stage later this year. For the teenager from Kerala, however, the journey has already come full circle — from finishing runner-up on an international teen pageant stage in Jaipur in 2025 to returning to the same city a year later and leaving as Miss Universe India 2026.
