The name Paniyan comes from the root word pani, meaning work. The word refers to a worker or laborer and in general, a member of the tribe Paniyan. They were literally slaves to landlords in northern Kerala.
The famous Valliyurkavu festival in Wayanadu district is reminiscent of the resultant slave trade. During this festival, slaves were sold, purchased or even exchanged by landlords and local chieftains, in front of the Bhagavathi temple. Annual pacts were renewed binding the Paniyan slave to work for another year. Cloth, oil or a nominal amount were exchanged, to seal the deal. This practice slowly died when slavery became illegal. The scars of this practice are still visible in how the Paniyan conduct their lives.
Paniyan reside mainly in northern Kerala (Wayanadu district), with relatively few in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
Paniyans now reside mainly in colonies of between eight and twenty-five houses. Very few among them have any form of education and their main means of income is subsistence farming and daily wage labor. They prefer not to associate with others living in the area, which isolates them from contact with Christians.
The Paniyan do not have many religious practices. They tend to associate a spirit behind anything in their seen-world and include spirits of their dead for worship. Their main god is that of the forest, called kadubhagavathi, or kuli, which is neither male nor female. Its shrine is usually represented by one or more stones, placed under a tree. Their worship at this shrine is usually through offering boiled rice, half a coconut and a few coins. The Banyan tree is very significant in their unseen world as if they believe that spirits live on it.
A few Paniyan have started following Jesus as a result of many years of ministry. These new Christian believers, though meeting together as a church, find it difficult to grow into maturity as the truths of the Scripture are not available to them in their language.
Pray for complete freedom in their world view, from past scars of slavery, leading them to put their identity and hope in the King of kings.
Pray they will become self-sufficient through education and economic development.
Pray the Paniyan Christians will disciple their community, turning their hearts to the only savior.
Pray that the Word of God in their mother tongue will soon open their hearts to see Jesus as he is: the only savior of mankind.
Scripture Prayers for the Paniyan in India.
Profile Source: Joshua Project |
People Name General | Paniyan |
People Name in Country | Paniyan |
Alternate Names | Pannayar; Panniyar; पनियाँ |
Population this Country | 118,000 |
Population all Countries | 118,000 |
Total Countries | 1 |
Indigenous | Yes |
Progress Scale | 1 ● |
Unreached | Yes |
Frontier People Group | No |
GSEC | 1 (per PeopleGroups.org) |
Pioneer Workers Needed | 2 |
People ID | 17834 |
ROP3 Code | 113307 |
ROP25 Code | 306518 |
ROP25 Name | Paniyan |
Country | India | ||||||
Region | Asia, South | ||||||
Continent | Asia | ||||||
10/40 Window | Yes | ||||||
National Bible Society | Website | ||||||
Persecution Rank | 11 (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking) | ||||||
Total States on file | 6 | ||||||
Largest States |
|
||||||
Districts | Interactive map, listing and data download | ||||||
Specialized Website | South Asia Peoples |
Country | India |
Region | Asia, South |
Continent | Asia |
10/40 Window | Yes |
National Bible Society | Website |
Persecution Rank | 11 (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking) |
Total States | 6 |
Kerala 105,000 | |
Tamil Nadu 12,000 | |
Karnataka 700 | |
Puducherry 400 | |
Delhi 100 | |
Andhra Pradesh 60 | |
Website | South Asia Peoples |
Primary Religion: | Hinduism |
Major Religion ▲ | Percent * |
---|---|
Buddhism |
0.13 %
|
Christianity (Evangelical Unknown) |
0.38 %
|
Ethnic Religions |
0.00 %
|
Hinduism |
99.07 %
|
Islam |
0.19 %
|
Non-Religious |
0.00 %
|
Other / Small |
0.01 %
|
Unknown |
0.22 %
|
* From latest India census data. Current Christian values may substantially differ. |
Primary Language | Paniya (66,000 speakers) | |||||||||
Language Code | pcg Ethnologue Listing | |||||||||
Language Written | Yes ScriptSource Listing | |||||||||
Total Languages | 8 | |||||||||
Secondary Languages |
|
Primary Language | Paniya (66,000 speakers) |
Language Code | pcg Ethnologue Listing |
Total Languages | 8 |
Secondary Languages | |
Malayalam 23,000 | |
Tamil 10,000 | |
Kannada 300 | |
Tulu 30 | |
Kodava 30 | |
Hindi 20 | |
Telugu 20 | |
People Groups | Speaking Paniya |
Primary Language: Paniya
Bible Translation ▲ | Status (Years) |
---|---|
Bible-Portions | Yes |
Bible-New Testament | Yes (2016) |
Bible-Complete | No |
FCBH NT (www.bible.is) | Online |
Possible Print Bibles | |
---|---|
Amazon | |
World Bibles | |
Forum Bible Agencies | |
National Bible Societies | |
World Bible Finder | |
Virtual Storehouse |
Resource Type ▲ | Resource Name | Source |
---|---|---|
Audio Recordings | Audio Bible teaching | Global Recordings Network |
Film / Video | Jesus Film: view in Paniya | Jesus Film Project |
Film / Video | LUMO film of Gospels | Bible Media Group/LUMO |
General | Faith Comes By Hearing - Bible in text or audio or video | Faith Comes by Hearing |
General | Gospel resources links | Scripture Earth |
Photo Source | Copyrighted © 2023 Philipose Vaidyar All rights reserved. Used with permission |
Map Source | People Group data: Omid. Map geography: UNESCO / GMI. Map Design: Joshua Project. |
Profile Source | Joshua Project |
Data Sources | Data is compiled from various sources. Learn more. |