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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Kanikkar of India

The Kanikkar of India, numbering approximately 37,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Scheduled Tribe of the hill forests of Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam districts in Kerala, whose name means hereditary proprietor. Once hunter-gatherers, they now mainly practice settled agriculture and wage labor. They mostly adhere to Folk Hinduism and Kanikkaran is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite: Kanikkar

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: South Asian Tribal
Primary Language(s): Kanikkaran (kev)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Hinduism
Population: 37,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG042048
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Pray for the Kanikkar of India

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

95%
%
Folk Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kanikkaran
Language Family: Dravidian

74%
%
Kanikkaran Speakers

Media Resources in Kanikkaran:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Kanikkaran:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Kanikkaran bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Kanikkar are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Kanikkar:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Kanikkar of India

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or?rulers?or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
readColossians 1:16

Pray for those who are lost among them, that they will come to know the One who created all things and holds all things together.

Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, "the kingdom of God has come near to you."
readLuke 10:8-9

Pray that the lost will receive messengers of the gospel with joy, turn from their sins, and be healed.

I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
readPsalm 89:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will declare and record His faithfulness and love to be passed on from generation to generation.

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.
readLuke 10:1

Ask God to raise up, send out, and sustain Christians who can go together to share the good news of Jesus with those who need it.

Kanikaran Across Countries (ROP3 - 112421) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
KanikkarPG042048KanikkarIndia37,000No Longer UnreachedKanikkaranFolk Hinduism

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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