People group profile · PG049578
The Bharathar of India
The Bharathar of India, numbering about 81,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a socioreligious community of predominantly Roman Catholic Bharathar speaking Tamil and Malayalam, primarily engaged in fishing in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
They are an indigenous people in the Tamil people cluster of the South Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Roman Catholicism, and they primarily speak Tamil.
Fast facts
- Country
- India
- Population
- 81,000
- Affinity group
- South Asian Peoples
- People cluster
- Tamil
- Primary language
- Tamil (tam)
- Primary religion
- Roman Catholicism
- Strategic Progress Index ?
- No Longer Unreached
- Evangelical
- 5% or Greater but Less than 10%
- GSEC ?
- 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
- Lostness priority ?
- Moderately Reached People Group
- Region
- Southern Asia, Asia
- Location
- concentrated in the Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram, and Alappuzha districts
Where they live
Gospel status
The Bharathar are No Longer Unreached, which means 2% or more are evangelical Christians. In GSEC terms, this people group is greater than or equal to 5% evangelical.
- Congregations exist Yes
- Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted
Next steps for the Bharathar
- Pray for the churches among this group to grow in faithfulness and maturity
- Equip believers to reach the unreached peoples around them
- Send out laborers from this people to the nations
Primary religion
Roman Catholicism · Christianity
68% adherents
Primary language
Tamil · Dravidian family
100% speak Tamil
Gospel resources in Tamil
- Bible available, published 2024
- JESUS Film available
- Radio programs available
- Gospel recordings available
- Audio resources available
- Bible stories not available
Films
- Magdalena (Tamil)
- The Savior (Tamil)
Bibles
- Contemporary Version · video
- Contemporary Version - LUMO Christmas Film · video
- Contemporary Version - LUMO Easter Film · video
- Easy-to-Read Version · audio, text
- Indian Revised Version · audio, text
- Indian Revised Version · text
Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.
Pray for the Bharathar
- Romans 10:14–15. Ask God to send messengers, so that people can hear, believe and call on the name of the Lord.
- Matthew 9:37–38. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest field.
- 2 Timothy 2:2. Pray for faithful local leaders who will teach others, so that the church multiplies.
- Ephesians 5:8. Pray that those walking in darkness will turn to the light and live as children of light.
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