Pharisa Pen

Pharisa Pen

Pharisā Pen is the foundational ancestor-god of the Gond people — India's largest tribal community (~13 million). In Gondi religion he is the primordial culture-hero who taught agriculture, smelting, and the dividing of clans.

Gondi religion (known as Koyapoonem or Gondi Dharma) maintains a sophisticated 18-gana clan system with dedicated deities for each. Pharisā Pen is the shared ancestor. Gonds have historically resisted classification as Hindu (though census often records them so), and the Gondi Dharma revival movement gained political visibility since the 1990s. The Koyā Punem Koyapoonem movement (Telangana-Chhattisgarh border) promotes authentic Gondi religious practice distinct from Hinduism.