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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Dheevara of India

The Dheevara of India, numbering approximately 474,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a collective group of Hindu fisherman castes primarily found in the Kerala state of South India. The Dheevara community has formed influential organizations that advocate for their rights and representation. They are an Indigenous people, in the Malayali people cluster of the South Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Hinduism - Folk. They primarily speak Malayalam.

Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Dheevara

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Malayali
Primary Language(s): Malayalam (mal)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism - Folk
Population: 474,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG050635

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Pray for the Dheevara of India

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Hinduism - Folk
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

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Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Malayalam
Language Family: Dravidian

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Media Resources in Malayalam:

Films:

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Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Malayalam:

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Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Malayalam bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Dheevara

The Dheevara are Unengaged and Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Next steps for the Dheevara

The Dheevara 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.

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

Next steps for the Dheevara

The Dheevara 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.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Dheevara of India

Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
read1 John 3:8

Pray for those living in darkness to recognize the destructive power of sin and the victory Christ has won over it.

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.
readPsalm 67:4

Pray that God will use ways from in-person witnesses to digital gospel resources to bring the joy of His salvation to everyone so that they can be glad in Him and sing for joy.

For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
read1 Peter 2:25

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will proclaim the good news and the lost will recognize their need for the Shepherd and turn to Jesus Christ in faith.

But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.
read2 Corinthians 3:16

Give thanks to God for believers around the world who are willing to cross cultures to share the gospel with those who are perishing. Pray that He will work through their witness to draw many to turn to Him.

Dheevara (ROP3 - 119598) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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