Deepmala Dhakal was crowned Miss Nepal World 2026 in the grand finale held in the Capital on Saturday. Arya Nishaant was named Miss Nepal International 2026, while Kashis Subba won the Miss Nepal Cosmo 2026 title.

The 24-year-old Dhakal says that she was inspired by her mother. Her mother competed in the first Miss Nepal competition, which was held in 1994. Deepmala works as an investment strategist at the renowned investment management company BlackRock. In addition, she is a taekwondo black belt holder and a marathon runner. She has completed her bachelor’s degree in economics.

The event, organised by The Hidden Treasure, was centred on the theme ‘Top of the World’, inspired by Nepal’s mountain heritage. The evening opened with a tribute to mountaineers from around the world, followed by a dance performance titled Mountain Silhouette, featuring all 24 finalists.

The finalists came from diverse professional backgrounds, including medicine, law, engineering and entrepreneurship.

Before the announcement of the winners, several subtitle awards were presented. Kashis Subba won the Kajaria Miss Top Model award, Prema Lamgade was named Xiaomi Miss Multimedia, and Shraddha Adhikari received the Xtreme Energy Miss Active title. Deepmala Dhakal won both the BYD Miss Green Visionary and Nepal Medicity Miss Health and Harmony awards.

The evening concluded with the crowning of the three titleholders, who will go on to represent Nepal at international beauty pageants.