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The Cekkala of India

The Cekkala of India, numbering approximately 32,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a traditional Hindu oil-pressing community of Tamil Nadu whose ancestors migrated from Kerala and whose name derives from cekku, meaning oil-pressing mill. They are also known as Chekkal Nair and are organized into exogamous clans. They mostly adhere to Hinduism and Malayalam is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Nair
Primary Language(s): Malayalam (mal)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism
Population: 32,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG049868

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Pray for the Cekkala 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: Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

99%
%
Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Malayalam
Language Family: Dravidian

100%
%
Malayalam Speakers

Media Resources in Malayalam:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Malayalam:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Bible League International✓✓
Holy Bible, Malayalam Contemporary Version - LUMO Christmas Film✓
Holy Bible, Malayalam Contemporary Version - LUMO Easter Film✓
Holy Bible, Malayalam Contemporary Version ™✓

4 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Malayalam bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Cekkala 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.

Next steps for the Cekkala:
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

Pray specifically for the Cekkala of India

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."
readJohn 16:33

Pray that those who don't have peace with God will find peace in Christ, even amid the troubles of this world.

Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.
readMatthew 13:8-9

Pray that they will have open hearts and minds to the Word of God, and that it will take root in their lives and bear fruit for His glory.

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
readActs 2:42

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will devote themselves to God's Word, to fellowship with each other, and to prayer.

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.

Chekkala Across Countries (ROP3 - 118907) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
CekkalaPG049868CekkalaIndia32,500Engaged yet UnreachedMalayalamHinduism

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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