People group profile · PG041737
The Paniyan of India
The Paniyan of India, numbering about 136,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Scheduled Tribe of the forested Wayanad, Kozhikode, Kannur, and Malappuram districts, Kerala, their name meaning worker. Once bonded to coffee planters, today wage labor and settled cultivation remain common.
They are an indigenous people in the South Asian Tribal people cluster of the South Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Animism, and they primarily speak Malayalam.
Fast facts
- Country
- India
- Population
- 136,000
- Affinity group
- South Asian Peoples
- People cluster
- South Asian Tribal
- Primary language
- Malayalam (mal)
- Primary religion
- Animism
- Strategic Progress Index ?
- Engaged yet Unreached
- Evangelical
- Less than 2%
- GSEC ?
- Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
- Lostness priority ?
- Expanding Unreached People Group
- Region
- Southern Asia, Asia
- Location
- Karnataka: Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, and Mysore districts; Kerala and Lakshadweep states; Puducherry: Mahe; Tamil Nadu: Colimbatore, The Nilgiris, and Tirunelveli districts
Where they live
Gospel status
The Paniyan are Engaged yet Unreached, which means fewer than 2% are evangelical Christians, but there are sustained efforts to establish self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. In GSEC terms, this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years.
- Congregations exist No
- Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted
Next steps for the Paniyan
- Continue prayer and fasting for this group
- Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
- Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people
Primary religion
Animism · Ethnoreligion
100% adherents
Primary language
Malayalam · Dravidian family
100% speak Malayalam
Gospel resources in Malayalam
- Bible available, published 2022
- JESUS Film available
- Radio programs available
- Gospel recordings available
- Audio resources available
- Bible stories not available
Films
Bibles
- Bible League International · audio, text
- Holy Bible, Malayalam Contemporary Version - LUMO Christmas Film · video
- Holy Bible, Malayalam Contemporary Version - LUMO Easter Film · video
- Holy Bible, Malayalam Contemporary Version ™ · video
Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.
Pray for the Paniyan
- John 17:3. Pray that many will come to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.
- Psalm 27:1. Pray that new believers will be strengthened in the face of persecution, with the Lord as their stronghold.
- Romans 12:4–5. Pray that believers from many cultures will work together as one body so that the church is built up.
- Revelation 7:9. Pray for the day when people from this group stand before the throne with every nation, tribe, people and language.
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