Jenu Kuruba in India


Population
Main Language
Largest Religion
Christian
Evangelical
Progress
Progress Gauge
* Data can be from various sources including official census, agencies, and local research. Data from these sources can sometimes differ even by orders of magnitude. Joshua Project attempts to present a conservative, balanced estimate.

Introduction / History

The Jenu Kuruba are also referred to by the names "Then Kurumba" or "Kattu Naikar." Their name means honey. They have fought for years to remain in the forests. They are spread out mainly along the border forests of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.


What Are Their Lives Like?

Most of them work as daily laborers for landlords in plantations in the region. They are very poor and struggle to make ends meet. A large number of their children drop out of school and take to daily labor early in life because of their family's financial situation. As a result, very few of them are literate. There is also a clear need for medical, social and economic development for this community.

Being a close-knit community, they rarely mingle with other neighboring tribal communities. If any Jennu Kurumba becomes friendly with an outsider, he might be expelled from his community.


What Are Their Beliefs?

The Jennu Kurumba people practice Hinduism, the ancient religion of South Asia. Hinduism is a catch-all phrase for the local religions of South Asia, so it is very diverse. At the popular level, Hindus worship and serve the gods of the Hindu pantheon. They visit Hindu temples and offer prayers, food, flowers, and incense to their gods in hopes of gaining protection and benefits. They do not have a personal or familial relationship with their gods like Christians or Jews. There are other Hindus who are much more philosophical, especially among the Brahmins.

Almost all Hindus participate in yearly celebrations like Holi, the festival of colors and the start of spring / Diwali, the festival of lights / Navratri, the celebration of autumn / and Rama Navami, Rama's birthday.


What Are Their Needs?

They were exposed to the Christian faith almost a century ago, but there are few if any visible results today. To them, Christianity is a foreign religion and below their standards, because Christians eat beef.

There is a need for loving Christian workers to present the gospel in a culturally appropriate manner. The Jennu Kurumbas speak a distinct language and research has shown that they need their own Scripture translation. They could then understand the love of God and enjoy freedom from fear and suspicion.


Prayer Points

Pray for the Jennu Kurumba people to have open hearts to Jesus Christ and his ambassadors.

Pray for God to open doors for the Jennu Kurumba to welcome Jesus into their community.

Pray for missionary families to be encouraged and be a key means for the Jennu Kurumba to come to faith in Jesus.

Pray for wisdom, grace and empowering from above for the Scripture translation team.


Scripture Prayers for the Jenu Kuruba in India.


References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenu_Kuruba


Profile Source:   Joshua Project  

People Name General Jenu Kuruba
People Name in Country Jenu Kuruba
Alternate Names Kattu Naiakan; Kattu Naichan; Kattunaikan; Kuluvan; Kuruba. Jenu; जेनू कुरुबा
Population this Country 53,000
Population all Countries 53,000
Total Countries 1
Indigenous Yes
Progress Scale 1
Unreached Yes
Frontier People Group Yes
GSEC 1  (per PeopleGroups.org)
Pioneer Workers Needed 1
PeopleID3 18778
ROP3 Code 112348
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 4
Largest States
Karnataka
41,000
Tamil Nadu
12,000
Andhra Pradesh
40
Kerala
30
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 4
  Karnataka 41,000
  Tamil Nadu 12,000
  Andhra Pradesh 40
  Kerala 30
Website South Asia Peoples
Primary Religion: Hinduism
Major Religion Percent *
Buddhism
0.00 %
Christianity  (Evangelical Unknown)
0.03 %
Ethnic Religions
0.00 %
Hinduism
99.85 %
Islam
0.07 %
Non-Religious
0.00 %
Other / Small
0.02 %
Unknown
0.03 %
* From latest India census data.
Current Christian values may substantially differ.
Primary Language Kurumba, Jennu (35,000 speakers)
Language Code xuj   Ethnologue Listing
Language Written Yes   ScriptSource Listing
Total Languages 8
Secondary Languages
Kannada
5,300
Tamil
4,400
Telugu
1,700
Malayalam
200
Marathi
60
Kodava
20
Tulu
20
Primary Language Kurumba, Jennu (35,000 speakers)
Language Code xuj   Ethnologue Listing
Total Languages 8
Secondary Languages
  Kannada 5,300
  Tamil 4,400
  Telugu 1,700
  Malayalam 200
  Marathi 60
  Kodava 20
  Tulu 20
People Groups Speaking Kurumba, Jennu

Primary Language:  Kurumba, Jennu

Bible Translation Status  (Years)
Bible-Portions Yes  (2016)
Bible-New Testament No
Bible-Complete No
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
Film / Video Jesus Film: view in Kurumba, Jennu Jesus Film Project
General Bible and Resources in text or audio or video Internet Publishing Sevice
General Scripture Earth Gospel resources links Scripture Earth
Photo Source Copyrighted © 2024  Philipose Vaidyar  All rights reserved.  Used with permission
Map Source People Group data: Omid. Map geography: UNESCO / GMI. Map Design: Joshua Project.  
Profile Source Joshua Project 
Data Sources Data is compiled from various sources. Learn more.


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