They constitute the single largest Scheduled Tribe in Kerala and are mainly found in the Wayanad District and the neighbouring areas of Karnataka.

They primarily inhabit villages around edge of forestland in Kerala's Wayanad, Kozhikode, Kannur and Malappuram districts.

The center of the bonding contracts was the famous temple of the regional mother goddess of the Valliyoorkkavu shrine near Mananthavady.

[5] There is a theory that the Paniyas were brought to Wayand by the Jain Gounders who trained them to be agricultural labourers in their fields (Thurston, 1909).

[8] Paniyas typically live in villages (padis) consisting of a few huts (pire or chala) with courtyards.

Paniya females or panichi don a long cloth, with a smaller one above the breast area and around the armpits.

Land grabbers and poachers exploit them by encouraging drinking habit, sexual infidelity and other vices.

PEEP Wayanad also organises various events to spread awareness on social menaces like alcoholism and chewing tobacco.