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The Pattanavan of India

The Pattanavan of India, numbering approximately 11,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a marine fishing community of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry also called Karaiyan or Meenavar, their name meaning dweller of a town. Fishing remains principal, supplemented by government service. They mostly adhere to Hinduism and Tamil is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Tamil
Primary Language(s): Tamil (tam)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism
Population: 11,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG041678

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Pray for the Pattanavan 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: Tamil
Language Family: Dravidian

100%
%
Tamil Speakers

Media Resources in Tamil:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

3 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Tamil:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Contemporary Version✓
Contemporary Version - LUMO Christmas Film✓
Contemporary Version - LUMO Easter Film✓
Easy-to-Read Version✓✓
Indian Revised Version✓✓
Indian Revised Version✓

6 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Tamil bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Pattanavan 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 Pattanavan:
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 Pattanavan of India

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
readRomans 1:18

Pray that God will have mercy and open the eyes of those who don't know Jesus, so that they can turn to the One who is able to save them from their sins.

Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.
readPsalm 96:2

Pray that gospel resources will reach this generation so that they will receive the good news and sing to the LORD, bless His name, and tell of His salvation each day.

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.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
readPsalm 139:14

Praise God for His creativity and power, and pray that He will raise up men and women from among them who are in awe of all He has done and want to go share the hope of Christ with others.

Pattanavan Across Countries (ROP3 - 115670) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress Index ▲LanguageReligion
PattanavanPG041678PattanavanIndia11,500Engaged yet UnreachedTamilHinduism

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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