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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

During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
readExodus 2:23-24

As the lost among them labor, groan, and cry out under false religions and sin, pray God will have mercy on them and hear their cries, that He will be their Rescuer from the kingdom of darkness and bring them into the kingdom of light.

Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!
readPsalm 96:9

Pray that many who do not yet know Jesus will come to know Him and worship Him in the splendor of His holiness.

Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
readMatthew 18:19

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they find other believers to pray with, and that they will trust God to answer their requests according to His will.

But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
readJeremiah 29:7

Pray that God will lead the lost among them to followers of Jesus who will share the gospel with them so that they may believe and take the message of hope to their families and friends.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▼Religion
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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