Discover Kodinhi in Kerala, India’s baffling village of twins. Explore genetics vs environment, daily life, and why the mystery keeps researchers returning.
In southern India, in the state of Kerala, there’s a small village that has quietly astonished the entire country. Kodinhi isn’t a tourist hotspot or a place of ancient temples, yet journalists, researchers, and the simply curious keep arriving. The draw is extraordinary: an unusually high number of twins. The numbers alone make you pause—this is far beyond chance.
Kodinhi sits in Malappuram district, in India’s south. Around 2,000 families live here. At first glance, it looks like countless other villages: narrow lanes, lush trees, tiled-roof houses. But a short walk tells a different story—children who look identical often stroll side by side. It isn’t mere coincidence: more than 400 pairs of twins live in the village.
Scientists have been intrigued by this anomaly for years. Elsewhere in India, such clusters are rare. Here, residents say, twins have been born across multiple generations.
To get to the bottom of it, specialists visited the village, collected water samples, spoke with locals, and examined potential causes. Some suspected something in the local diet or water. Others pointed to genetics—traits passed down through families. So far, though, there’s no definitive explanation.
There’s another telling detail: even if a woman from Kodinhi marries and moves away, she may still give birth to twins. That hints the cause likely lies not just in the place, but in the people.
For Kodinhi’s residents, twin births are part of everyday life. Some consider it a special blessing; others hardly dwell on it. To support families with twins, the community formed the Twins and Kins Association. It helps parents, hosts meetups, and maintains dialogue with researchers.
Despite the attention, Kodinhi hasn’t turned into a tourist stop. Daily life carries on—school, work, routines. Still, everyone knows their village is different.
Yes—there are a few such villages in the world. In Nigeria and Brazil, for instance, there are places where twins are also common. Kodinhi is among the best-known in India, and unlike some others, no plausible cause has emerged here yet.
Researchers are still searching for answers. There’s no consensus, but the work continues. Kodinhi remains a puzzle: a village where being a twin is less an exception than almost a local norm.
Locals have long taken it in stride. First-time visitors, meanwhile, can’t help their amazement. Perhaps science will eventually explain the phenomenon. For now, Kodinhi feels like a place where nature decided to bend the rules.