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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Adi Dravida of India

The Adi Dravida of India, numbering approximately 11,010,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a scheduled caste of India, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Pondicherry They are an Indigenous people, in the Tamil people cluster of the South Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Hinduism. They primarily speak Tamil.

Adi Dravida in India photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Copyrighted ©️ 2025 Dr. Nagaraja Sharma - Shutterstock Used with permission

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Tamil
Primary Language(s): Tamil (tam)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism
Population: 11,010,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG049349
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Adi Dravida of India

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

%
Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tamil
Language Family: Dravidian

%
Tamil Speakers

Media Resources in Tamil:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Tamil:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Tamil bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Adi Dravida

The Adi Dravida are Unengaged and Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Next steps for the Adi Dravida

The Adi Dravida are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

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

Next steps for the Adi Dravida

The Adi Dravida 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.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Adi Dravida of India

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
readPsalm 9:9-10

Pray that God will help those who are oppressed and without hope to hear the good news of Jesus and trust in Him, for He has never forsaken those who seek Him.

...I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
readPsalm 13:5

Ask God to bring many to trust in His unfailing love and cause their hearts to rejoice in His salvation.

This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
readEphesians 5:32-33

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will grasp the profound mystery of Christ's love for the Church, reflecting this love in their marriages.

And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
readRomans 10:15

Pray that God will call many believers who will obediently go and share the gospel with those who desperately need it.

Adi Dravida, Hindu (ROP3 - 111266) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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