Preservation and Promotion

According to a census conducted by the Indian government in 2011, there are 247,702 Saurashtra speakers in India and only a few thousand around the world. As for Saurashtra speakers in India, many are no longer located in the original Saurashtra region, but instead in the southern cities of Tamil Nadu (e.g. Madurai, Paramakudi, Salem, and Tanjore).

Sources for further reading: https://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/Language_MTs.html, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2033685, and http://self.gutenberg.org/articles/eng/Saurashtra_people.

With English dominating the global scene, the number of people who are able to speak Saurashtra, let alone read or write it, is quickly dwindling. In fact, if no measures are taken today, this already dying language may disappear within a few decades. Therefore, the Saurashtrian community is once again coming together to preserve its one-of-a-kind language. Launching Unicode Fonts, publishing Saurashtra-English dictionaries and newspapers, and educating others on Facebook and WhatsApp, are just a few ways the Saurashtra language and script are being preserved. More so, many of these preservation efforts are carried out solely by the Saurashtrian community itself without government support.

Sources for further reading: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gujarat-weavers-who-settled-in-Madurai-centuries-ago-brought-with-them-a-unique-language/articleshow/52927461.cms, and https://www.endangeredalphabets.net/alphabets/sourashtra/