Bhubaneswar: Dilishaa Behera from Odisha was crowned as KIIT NanhiPari Little Miss India 2024 at a glittering show held at the KIIT campus here on Monday evening in the presence of Femina Miss India World 2024 Nikita Porwal.
The KIIT NanhiPari winner takes home the crown and prizes worth Rs 21 lakh, including Rs 3 lakh in cash. Besides, the winner gets a 100 per cent fee waiver at KIIT if she wishes to pursue her higher studies at the university.
The grand finale of the 24th edition of the beauty pageant also saw Hemanya Burhagohain of Arunachal Pradesh being crowned as the first runner-up and Esha Dangi from Madhya Pradesh as the 2nd runner-up. They received a cash award of Rs 1 lakh and Rs. 50,000 respectively, along with other gifts and substantial fee waivers for their studies at KIIT.
Twenty-three participants between 13-15 years were shortlisted for the semi-final from regional auditions held across the country.
Chief Patron of KIIT Nanhipari and Founder of KIIT and KISS Dr Achyuta Samanta along with the other guests, crowned the winners.
Dr Samanta announced that the prize money for Nanhipari 2025 would be increased to Rs 10 lakh, Rs 7 lakh, and Rs 5 lakh respectively.
Many other titles were decided in the final round. Miss Rapunzel title was won by Dewan Khushnuma Touhid (Meghalay), while Miss Selfie title went to Hiyashree Paliwal (Rajasthan). Reshmi Ghosh (Tripura) was coroneted as Miss Active, and Yashashree Sagarika (Odisha) bagged the Miss Urvashi title. Kasish Chandel (Himachal Pradesh) was the winner of the Miss Monalisa title, while Nidhi R Gowda (Karnataka) won the Miss Photogenic title. Hemanya Burhagohain (Arunachal Pradesh) won the Miss Personality title as well. Navya Kumawat (Rajasthan) won the Miss Fashion title. The Miss Cindrella title was won by Sudeshna Gurung (Sikkim), while the Miss Wizkid title went to Dilishaa Behera (Odisha), who also took the winner crown home.
