The Adi Andhra of India

The Adi Andhra of India, numbering approximately 345,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as a Telugu-speaking Dalit community composed of the Mala and Madiga, who adopted the name to assert their identity as original inhabitants of the Andhra region. Their traditional occupations include leatherwork, weaving and agricultural labor They are an Indigenous people, with Adi Andhra as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Telugu people cluster of the South Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Hinduism. They primarily speak Telugu.

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

Fast Facts*:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Telugu
Primary Language(s): Telugu (tel)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism
Population: 345,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG049197
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Pray for the Adi Andhra 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

95%
%
Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Telugu
Language Family: Dravidian

75%
%
Telugu Speakers

Media Resources in Telugu:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

4 films

Bible Resources in Telugu:

5 entries

Or check out the Telugu bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Adi Andhra 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 Adi Andhra:
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 Adi Andhra of India

The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.
readProverbs 4:19

Pray that lost people will accept salvation through Christ, turn from destruction, and experience joy in the way of righteousness.

Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
readMark 10:14b

Praise Jesus for the way He loves children, asking that many will learn the truth about Him and come to Him unhindered.

And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!"
readMark 7:9

Pray that as men, women, boys, and girls place their faith in Christ, they will let go of any traditions that do not honor Him.

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
readActs 17:30

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will boldly and lovingly declare that God commands all people everywhere to repent.

Adi Andhra, Hindu Across Countries (ROP3 - 111264) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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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