"Rishabh! Don't ever forget our past!" The old man called to his grandson as he lounged on the couch. "Let me tell you about the time our ancestors built the Adinath Temple. It was the year 961 AD by the time they even finished…" he began. He went on to describe the details of how they built the impressive Jain temple, despite many obstacles. The boy settled himself in to hear the story yet again.
The Porwal (also called Porvad or Porwad) are a community of Banias who, long ago, were great in number and in riches. They built many of the most famous Jain temples. Now other Jain communities are larger and wealthier than the Porwals. They are still a wealthy people, but their numbers have fallen when compared to the other Jain groups around them. Today they number less than four million out of India's more than 1,215,000,000 people.
Far smaller is the number of Christ followers among them. Their Jain beliefs offer them some good moral guidelines regarding the sanctity of life. But without a church or a Bible or any appropriate evangelistic tools, the Porwals remain without knowledge of a Savior who offers not only solid moral teachings about the importance of life, but also the chance to have a personal relationship with the God who created them.
Pray that the Porwal people will soon get to hear the good news that Jesus Christ died for their sins.
Scripture Prayers for the Bania Porwal in India.
Some information from "The Scheduled Castes" K. S. Singh, ed. Oxford University Press, USA (1994)
Profile Source: Global Prayer Digest |
Bania profile for Children and Family Missions Activities |
Global Prayer Digest: 2011-08-18 |
Global Prayer Digest: 2017-09-18 |
People Name General | Bania Porwal |
People Name in Country | Bania Porwal |
Natural Name | Porwal Bania |
Alternate Names | Bania Seth; Jangada; Jangada Porwal; Marwadi; Parwar; Ponwar; Porwad; Porwal; Porwal Jain; Porwar; Purwar; बनिया, पोरवाल |
Population this Country | 394,000 |
Population all Countries | 394,000 |
Total Countries | 1 |
Indigenous | Yes |
Progress Scale | 1 ● |
Unreached | Yes |
Frontier People Group | Yes |
Pioneer Workers Needed | 8 |
People ID | 19719 |
ROP3 Code | 115172 |
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 | 23 | |||||||||||||||
Largest States (only 15 largest shown) |
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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 | 23 (only 20 largest shown) |
Rajasthan 84,000 | |
Maharashtra 66,000 | |
Gujarat 52,000 | |
Uttar Pradesh 39,000 | |
Madhya Pradesh 32,000 | |
West Bengal 28,000 | |
Andhra Pradesh 20,000 | |
Assam 18,000 | |
Delhi 8,500 | |
Telangana 8,200 | |
Tamil Nadu 5,100 | |
Punjab 5,100 | |
Chhattisgarh 4,300 | |
Karnataka 4,200 | |
Jharkhand 3,500 | |
Website | South Asia Peoples |
Primary Religion: | Hinduism |
Major Religion ▲ | Percent * |
---|---|
Buddhism |
0.00 %
|
Christianity (Evangelical 0.00 %) |
0.00 %
|
Ethnic Religions |
0.00 %
|
Hinduism |
69.91 %
|
Islam |
0.00 %
|
Non-Religious |
0.00 %
|
Other / Small |
30.09 %
|
Unknown |
0.00 %
|
* From latest India census data. Current Christian values may substantially differ. |
Primary Language | Hindi (145,000 speakers) | |||||||||||||||
Language Code | hin Ethnologue Listing | |||||||||||||||
Language Written | Yes ScriptSource Listing | |||||||||||||||
Total Languages | 29 | |||||||||||||||
Secondary Languages (only 15 largest shown) |
|
Primary Language | Hindi (145,000 speakers) |
Language Code | hin Ethnologue Listing |
Total Languages | 29 |
Secondary Languages (only 15 largest shown) | |
Gujarati 55,000 | |
Marwari 54,000 | |
Marathi 17,000 | |
Dhundari 12,000 | |
Bengali 10,000 | |
Telugu 7,600 | |
Mewari 5,700 | |
Nimadi 3,400 | |
Bhojpuri 3,300 | |
Kacchi 2,800 | |
Konkani 2,800 | |
Shekhawati 2,800 | |
Assamese 2,700 | |
Bagri 1,400 | |
Kanauji 1,300 | |
People Groups | Speaking Hindi |
Primary Language: Hindi
Bible Translation ▲ | Status (Years) |
---|---|
Bible-Portions | Yes (1806-1962) |
Bible-New Testament | Yes (1811-1998) |
Bible-Complete | Yes (1835-2022) |
Bible-NT Audio | Online |
Bible-NT Text | Online |
Possible Print Bibles | |
---|---|
Amazon | |
World Bibles | |
Forum Bible Agencies | |
National Bible Societies | |
World Bible Finder | |
Virtual Storehouse |
Photo Source | Anonymous |
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. |