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The Balmiki (Pahari) of India

The Balmiki (Pahari) of India, numbering approximately 133,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Dalit community whose modern identity is strongly tied to devotion to Sage Valmiki and to efforts toward social dignity, education, and upward mobility despite a history of caste-based marginalization. They mostly adhere to Hinduism and Garhwali is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Valmiki
Primary Language(s): Garhwali (gbm)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism
Population: 133,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG048196

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Pray for the Balmiki (Pahari) 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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

75%
%
Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Garhwali
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Garhwali Speakers

Media Resources in Garhwali:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Garhwali:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2018 Edition✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Garhwali bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Balmiki (Pahari) 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 Balmiki (Pahari):
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 Balmiki (Pahari) of India

"...And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold." As he said these things, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
readLuke 8:8

Pray that the seeds of truth will take root in the hearts of those who are far from Jesus and that He will lead them from darkness to light.

Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
readPsalm 47:6

Pray that believers will have a heart to invite others to trust in Christ alone so that they might sing praises to His name.

But Jesus called them to him, saying "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God."
readLuke 18:16

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have a burden to share the hope of Christ with children.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
read1 John 1:5

Pray that God will raise up believers who can share the gospel with people who don't know the good news of Jesus, that God is light and in him, there is no darkness at all.

Balmiki (Garhwali) Across Countries (ROP3 - 117039) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress Index ▼LanguageReligion
Balmiki (Pahari)PG048196Balmiki (Pahari)India133,000No Longer UnreachedGarhwaliHinduism

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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