Kanakkan in India

The Kanakkan have only been reported in India
Population
Main Language
Largest Religion
Christian
Evangelical
Progress
Progress Gauge
* From latest India census data.
Current Christian values may substantially differ.

Subgroups: 1

Subgroup Name Population
Padannan 800

Introduction / History

In 1909, a British writer wrote that the Kanakkan people wore a sacred thread, which is normally reserved for high caste Brahmins. This is strange since this group is from a scheduled caste community.

Traditionally they worked as coconut pickers who also extracted toddy from coconut and palm trees.


Where Are they Located?

Almost all the Kanakkan people live in India's beautiful southwestern state of Kerala. They do not live in other countries.


What Are Their Lives Like?

This is an endogamous community, meaning that they only marry within their own. If you do some web searching, you will find that they have their own matrimonial sites. They commonly marry their cousins. When a Kanakkan couple gets divorced, they have a very simple procedure: they just separate, and everyone understands that they are divorced. Their children can stay with either parent. Nuclear families are becoming more common among them.

Most of them are landless agricultural laborers. They have a surprisingly high literacy rate given their low economic status.


What Are Their Beliefs?

Almost all of them are Hindus, though there are a few who profess Christianity. They family deity is Nerachikavu Bhagvati. They also worship various village and other Hindu deities.

According to the seventh edition of "Operation World," their state, Kerala, was 19 percent Christian in one form or another. The Kanakkan people speak Kerala's language, Malayalam. It would be easy for them to have contact with Malayalam-speaking believers. That language includes all kinds of Christian materials such as the Bible, the JESUS Film, Gospel Recordings, and radio broadcasts. There are also vibrant Kerala-based mission organizations such as India Gospel Outreach (IGO) that can reach them.


Prayer Points

Pray for spiritual hunger among the Kanakkan people.
Pray for them to have ready access to the many Christian materials that are in the Malayalam language.
Pray for Indian mission groups like IGO to reach out to them until there is a cascading church planting movement among them.


Scripture Prayers for the Kanakkan in India.


Profile Source:   Global Prayer Digest  

People Name General Kanakkan
People Name in Country Kanakkan
Alternate Names Kanakar; Karnigar; Koinagar; Padanan; Padanna; Pandanna; कनक्कन
Population this Country 302,000
Population all Countries 302,000
Total Countries 1
Indigenous Yes
Progress Scale 1
Unreached Yes
Frontier People Group Yes
GSEC 1  (per PeopleGroups.org)
Pioneer Workers Needed 6
People ID 17076
ROP3 Code 112414
ROP25 Code 303625
ROP25 Name Kanakkan
Country India
Region Asia, South
Continent Asia
10/40 Window Yes
National Bible Society Website
Persecution Rank 11  (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking)
Total States on file 9
Largest States
Kerala
292,000
Tamil Nadu
6,600
Maharashtra
1,800
Delhi
700
Karnataka
600
Telangana
300
Andaman and Nicobar
200
Odisha
100
Puducherry
10
Districts Interactive map, listing and data download
Specialized Website South Asia Peoples
Country India
Region Asia, South
Continent Asia
10/40 Window Yes
National Bible Society Website
Persecution Rank 11  (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking)
Total States 9
  Kerala 292,000
  Tamil Nadu 6,600
  Maharashtra 1,800
  Delhi 700
  Karnataka 600
  Telangana 300
  Andaman and Nicobar 200
  Odisha 100
  Puducherry 10
Website South Asia Peoples
Primary Religion: Hinduism
Major Religion Percent *
Buddhism
0.00 %
Christianity  (Evangelical Unknown)
0.02 %
Ethnic Religions
0.00 %
Hinduism
99.98 %
Islam
0.00 %
Non-Religious
0.00 %
Other / Small
0.00 %
Unknown
0.00 %
* From latest India census data.
Current Christian values may substantially differ.
Primary Language Malayalam (218,000 speakers)
Language Code mal   Ethnologue Listing
Language Written Yes   ScriptSource Listing
Total Languages 4
Secondary Languages
Tamil
32,000
Kanikkaran
3,600
Kannada
100
Primary Language Malayalam (218,000 speakers)
Language Code mal   Ethnologue Listing
Total Languages 4
Secondary Languages
  Tamil 32,000
  Kanikkaran 3,600
  Kannada 100
People Groups Speaking Malayalam

Primary Language:  Malayalam

Bible Translation Status  (Years)
Bible-Portions Yes  (1811-1968)
Bible-New Testament Yes  (1829-1995)
Bible-Complete Yes  (1841-2022)
FCBH NT (www.bible.is) Online
YouVersion NT (www.bible.com) Online
Possible Print Bibles
Amazon
World Bibles
Forum Bible Agencies
National Bible Societies
World Bible Finder
Virtual Storehouse
Resource Type Resource Name Source
Audio Recordings Audio Bible teaching Global Recordings Network
Audio Recordings Love letter to you from scripture Father's Love Letter
Audio Recordings Online Audio Scripture Talking Bibles
Audio Recordings Story of Jesus audio Jesus Film Project
Film / Video Following Jesus video Jesus Film Project
Film / Video God's Story video God's Story
Film / Video Indigitube.tv Video / Animation Create International
Film / Video Jesus Film: view in Malayalam Jesus Film Project
Film / Video LUMO film of Gospels Bible Media Group/LUMO
Film / Video Magdalena video Jesus Film Project
Film / Video My Last Day video, anime Jesus Film Project
Film / Video Story of Jesus for Children Jesus Film Project
Film / Video World Christian Videos World Christian Videos
General Bible for Children Bible for Children
General Biblical answers to your questions Got Questions Ministry
General Faith Comes By Hearing - Bible in text or audio or video Faith Comes by Hearing
General Faith Comes By Hearing - Bible in text or audio or video Faith Comes by Hearing
General Faith Comes By Hearing - Bible in text or audio or video Faith Comes by Hearing
General Faith Comes By Hearing - Bible in text or audio or video Faith Comes by Hearing
General Faith Comes By Hearing - Bible in text or audio or video Faith Comes by Hearing
General Faith Comes By Hearing - Bible in text or audio or video Faith Comes by Hearing
General Faith Comes By Hearing - Bible in text or audio or video Faith Comes by Hearing
General Four Spiritual Laws Campus Crusade for Christ
General Gospel resources links Scripture Earth
General Gospel website in this language General / Other
Map Source People Group data: Omid. Map geography: UNESCO / GMI. Map Design: Joshua Project.  
Profile Source Global Prayer Digest 
Data Sources Data is compiled from various sources. Learn more.



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