About
To document, conserve and revitalise India's tribal and endangered languages and cultures, and to advance holistic Adivasi development.
Bhasha Research and Publication Centre, founded in 1996 by Prof. Ganesh Devy in Gujarat, is a pioneering non-profit dedicated to India's tribal languages and cultures. Through its Adivasi Academy at Tejgadh - a premier institute for tribal studies - it documents endangered languages, promotes tribal arts, and pursues a holistic model of Adivasi development spanning education, healthcare and livelihoods. It conceived and led the People's Linguistic Survey of India, which documented 780 living Indian languages.
Bhasha - meaning 'language', and standing for the 'voice' of the Adivasis - began by addressing tribal communities' material needs (healthcare, microcredit across 2,000+ villages, schools) before turning to its defining work in language and culture. It introduced scripts for tribal languages, published the multilingual magazine 'Dhol' in ten Adivasi languages, and built the Adivasi Academy at Tejgadh (1999) as a centre run with and for tribal communities, including the Vaacha museum of tribal voice.
Its landmark achievement is the People's Linguistic Survey of India (initiated 2010): a community-rooted survey by some 3,000 volunteers that documented 780 living Indian languages - 480 of them tribal - published across 50 volumes. It stands as the most comprehensive record of India's linguistic diversity ever assembled.
Visit & Access
The Adivasi Academy at Tejgadh houses the Vaacha museum of tribal voice and runs education and research programmes.
Founding & Leadership
Prof. Ganesh N. (G.N.) Devy, a literary critic and Sahitya Akademi Award-winning scholar, gave up his professorship of English at MS University of Baroda in 1996 to work with Denotified and Nomadic Tribes and Adivasis. He founded the Bhasha Research and Publication Centre in Vadodara and the Adivasi Academy at Tejgadh, and went on to lead the People's Linguistic Survey of India - the largest language survey in the country's history.
A non-profit trust founded and led by Prof. Ganesh Devy, working closely with trained Adivasi youth and communities.
Leadership & Trustees
Initiatives & Portfolio
The largest language survey in India's history - 780 living languages documented by ~3,000 volunteers across 50 volumes.
A premier institute for tribal studies and education, run with tribal communities, including the Vaacha museum of tribal voice.
Documentation and conservation of tribal languages, creation of scripts, and the multilingual magazine 'Dhol'.
Education, healthcare, microcredit and livelihood initiatives integrated with cultural work.
Impact & Metrics
Partnerships & Network
Partner institutions
Funders & patrons
Credentials & Compliance
CSR-eligible · Schedule VII(v) - art & culture
A natural CSR partner under Schedule VII(v) and for tribal/rural development; its language-documentation work is irreplaceable cultural-heritage preservation.
Recognition
Conceived and led the People's Linguistic Survey of India; a pioneer of tribal-language documentation and Adivasi-led cultural work.
[Atlas Assessment] Bhasha and the People's Linguistic Survey represent the most ambitious effort ever made to document and dignify India's linguistic and tribal heritage. In a country where a language can disappear with the livelihood of its speakers, Bhasha's community-led model - documenting 780 languages and building institutions run by Adivasis themselves - is both a monumental archive and a living act of cultural justice.
Bhasha scores high on innovation and impact: the PLSI is a singular achievement, and the Adivasi-led model is genuinely original. Its reach is concentrated in Gujarat's tribal belt but national in documentary scope. The defining caveat is profound founder-dependence on Ganesh Devy. For a funder, this is irreplaceable, time-sensitive cultural-heritage work with strong tribal-development co-benefits - and a clear succession question to weigh.