Mumbai, Maharashtra
|MON, JUN 08, 2026
The universe of India's mother tongues
PARI's Endangered Languages Project (ELP) is an ongoing documentation of India's vulnerable languages through the voices and lived experiences of people who speak them. There are over 780 documented languages in India, out of which 600 mother tongues are already at risk. With migration, displacement and a loss of traditional livelihoods, along with the pressure from dominant languages in educational institutions and public spaces, many of these languages face erasure and extinction
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14. Cultivating a mother tongue in Assam
A film on farmer-teacher-language preservationist Ananta Turung, and his life dedicated to documenting the critically endangered tongue Tai Turung
13. A-maize-ing language
Gond farmers Reena and Mantram from Chhindwara take us through their corn farm while giving us a lesson in Gondi
12. In Gurez, home is not where the word is
Harsh winters and cross border shelling are driving the Dard-Shin people in Kashmir’s Gurez valley out of their homes. Seasonal migration is also having an impact on the community’s language and culture
11. ‘Gondi language is our religion and caste’
For the Gonds of Lonadei in Madhya Pradesh, their mother tongue is not just what they speak – it’s who they are. That identity now stands on shaky ground
10. Singing for Monyul in Arunachal
Monpa children sing a song of their land and people, keeping their language alive
9. The resident songwriter of Lupungpat
In Jharkhand, Shraddhanand composes songs in Asur, the mother tongue of his community
8. Welcoming spring the Warli way
Shimga, celebrated at the onset of summer, is a special festival for many communities in Maharashtra. Here is how Warli Adivasis celebrate it
7. In a mother’s tongue
Kharia, once spoken by many families in Chhattisgarh, today lives on through only one mother’s tongue in the village of Patandadar. A story for International Mother Language Day 2025
6. In Chhindwara: Bhariati language declining fast
Bharia farmer Kamlesh Dandoliya is an accomplished author and language archivist. He says his mother tongue Bhariati is losing ground to Hindi, in fact much of the language has already been lost
5. Palghar school teacher pushes for Warli
Bhalchandra Dhangare teaches Adivasi children, many of whom are Warli speakers. He has made the dying language a part of his young students' classroom learning. A story for Teacher's Day
4. Doing it the ‘write’ way
Jharkhand's Parahiya, Mal Paharia and Sabar Adivasi communities are drawing on their oral traditions to create grammar books and primers to preserve their endangered mother tongues. A story from PARI's Endangered Languages Project on International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples
3. The Kolami-speakers of Yavatmal
A community of Kolam Adivasi cotton farmers in this district of Maharashtra speak Kolami, a language that is at risk of dying out. PARI’s Endangered Languages Project (ELP) takes a close look at the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG), their livelihood and the challenges to their language
2. ‘My tarpa is my deity’
Bhiklya Ladkya Dhinda is a Warli Adivasi. The 89-year-old musician lives in Walwande and plays the tarpa, a traditional wind instrument made from bamboo and dried bottle gourd. Listen to the story of his music and faith, as told by him
1. Laad haiko
Ho farmer Birsa Hembrom shows us how to make a monsoon fish dish
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PARI - People's Archive of Rural India
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https://ruralindiaonline.org/articles/the-universe-of-Indias-mother-tongues