The winner of the preliminary Miss Universe award for Best Bikini is  Miss Universe Mexico 2008, Elisa Najera. The special Best Bikini Body competition was held on July 2, 2008 at the Vinpearland resort in Nha Trang, Vietnam.

Elisa Najera will take  home $2,000 along with the award.

The other contestants that rounded up the top 5 in the Miss Universe Best Bikini contest were:

2) Taliana Vargas, Miss Universe Colombia 2008

3) Simran Kaur Mundi, Miss Universe India 2008

4) Claudia Moro, Miss Universe Spain 2008

5) Crystle Stewart, Miss Universe USA 2008

The Bikini show featured all the 81 Miss Universe candidates in swimsuits in a grand show with performances by local artists.

Indonesia officially does not allow beauty pageants, declaring that swimsuits and exploitation of women are sinful and un-Islamic. However, the Miss Universe organization has been sending candidates to the contest without getting into trouble with the law.

WE WELCOME VISITORS FROM INDONESIA – A LOT OF YOUR CITIZENS HAVE BEEN VISITING OUR SITE, WISH YOU THE BEST AT THE 2008 PAGEANT!

Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Height: 5′7″

Putri Raemawasti, the Miss Universe 2008 contestant from East Java, Indonesia, is an industrial engineering student at Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Surabaya.

Putri wants to run a restaurant serving traditional Indonesian cuisine, a dance institute, and a fashion gallery.

Putri says she loves to distribute goods collected by her church to the poor and disabled. She also enjoys Javanese traditional dances.

One of the rare pics of Puteri Raemawasti in a swimsuit; there are almost no known photos of her in a bikini that we could find anywhere!

Putri Raemawasti won the Miss Universe Indonesia 2008. Before that Putri, who comes from Blitar, won the Miss Blitar title and then the Miss East Java title in Surabaya to qualify for the Miss Indonesia pageant, held in Jakarta.

The Miss Indonesia World 2008 title was won by Sandra Angelia from Jawa Timur.

Height: 5′9″

Simran Kaur Mundi was crowned Pantaloons Femina Miss India Universe 2008, in April 2008. Simran will represent India in the Miss Universe 2008 pageant.

Simran Kaur, who has grown up in Mumbai, wants to open a beauty school in India that will help aspiring models to get the required grooming and etiquette. She is a biotechnology student from Versova. Simran loves sketching, listening to music, playing basketball, and being around kids. Simran works for a cinema chain in
Mumbai.

In the Femina Miss India 2008 pageant, in which Parvathy Omanakuttan was crowned Miss 2008 winner, Simran Kaur Mundi was the first runner-up. The second runner-up Harshita Saxena won the Miss Earth 2008 title. Tanvi Vyas became the next Miss India Earth 2008 when Harshita Saxena resigned due to prior commitments.

Before this contestants from India have won the Miss Universe contest twice. In 1994, Miss India Universe Sushmita Sen won the Miss Universe 1994 contest. This was the first Miss Universe win for an Indian contestant. In 2002, Lara Dutta, Miss India Universe 2002, won the Miss Universe 2002 title.

Simran Kaur Mundi has brown eyes and brown hair.