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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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The Perna of India

The Perna of India, numbering approximately 3,300 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Scheduled Caste of Haryana, Delhi, and Punjab similar to the Nat or Bazigar, historically itinerant performers. Construction and agricultural labor remain common, supplemented by sheep-rearing and poultry farming. They mostly adhere to Folk Hinduism and Haryanvi is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Hindi
Primary Language(s): Haryanvi (bgc)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Hinduism
Population: 3,300
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG049089
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Pray for the Perna 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: Folk Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

99%
%
Folk Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Haryanvi
Language Family: Indo-European

55%
%
Haryanvi Speakers

Media Resources in Haryanvi:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Haryanvi:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Davar Partners International✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Haryanvi bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Perna 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 Perna:
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 Perna of India

As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God".
readRomans 3:10-11

Pray that God will have mercy on those living in broken relationship with Him, and that He will bring many to surrender and repentance at the throne of grace.

There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
readPsalm 19:3

Pray that God will lead them to His Word, and where it is not available, ask that He will raise up those who will produce gospel media in their heart language.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
readJames 1:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will ask God for wisdom when they lack it, trusting that He will generously give it to them.

And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you.
readLuke 10:6

Pray that, as people come to faith in Christ and want to share it with others, they will be welcomed into homes and received well so that they can share message of hope with many people.

Perna, Hindu Across Countries (ROP3 - 113342) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
PernaPG049089PernaIndia3,300Engaged yet UnreachedHaryanviFolk Hinduism

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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