Administrator
13 August 2025
Figure 1 - Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu
Our family god called Kuladheivam in Tamil, has a temple in our village called poɬliwoʃ,” said the 66-year-old Kurtaz Vasamalli, who lives in the Nilgiri hills near Ooty. “We believe that the divine power comes to our villages from the temple…there is no idol worship.”
The hills, which are renowned for tea and coffee plantations, are considered sacred by the Toda tribe, who have lived there for thousands of years. The pastoral community believes that their gods and goddesses lived among them once and became a part of the sacred landscape over time.
dialects.
Subsequent Indian censuses have continued to map the country's linguistic landscape. The 1961 Census of India recorded 1,652 mother tongues, of which SPPEL has identified 117 endangered languages. By 2011, this diversity had expanded significantly, with the census recording 2,843 different mother tongues. After further linguistic analysis, 1,369 were classified as recognized languages that experts could properly identify, while 1,474 remained unclassified. The census grouped all mother tongues with more than 10,000 speakers under established language categories. Languages spoken by fewer than 10,000 people are considered endangered.
A UNESCO report, developed in collaboration with the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts under the Ministry of Culture, emphasizes the urgent need to protect India's tribal and indigenous languages. The report highlights that when a language disappears, it takes with it irreplaceable cultural heritage and traditional knowledge systems.
India’s endangered languages span the country’s diverse linguistic families and are found across the country:
|
Zone |
States/UTs Covered |
Number of Languages |
Some Languages |
|
Northern |
Chandigarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand |
25 |
Spiti, Jad, Darmiya, Gahri, Kanashi |
|
Northeast |
Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura |
43 |
Aimol, Tangam, Sherdukpen, Singpho, Tarao |
|
East Central |
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh |
15 |
Bhunjia, Birhor, Bondo, Toto, Gorum |
|
West Central |
Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Daman, Diu, Dadra Nagar Haveli, Goa |
5 |
Nihali, Baradi, Bharwad, Diwehi, Bhala |
|
Southern |
Telangana, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala |
20 |
Toda, Soliga, JenuKurumba, Siddi, Urali |
|
Andaman & Nicobar |
Andaman and Nicobar Islands |
9 |
Sentinelese, Onge, Shompen, Lamongse, Luro |
for the elicitation of various words. Sanchika contains hundreds of language samples and audio files of various endangered languages.
SPPEL also creates short and long-form documentaries, such as "Panuha Not: The Pig Festival Chowra" about the pig festival celebrated among the Sanenyo tribe who live on Chowra Island in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Other schemes preserving tribal cultures and languages
Various other schemes by other ministries also work toward preserving and promoting tribal culture and languages.
