Ghaus Siwani/New Delhi

Kodinihi in God’s own country Kerala has one of the biggest unresolved mysteries: the nondescript village in the Mallapuram district is home to the highest number of twins born in a single habitation.

 The village has at least 400 pairs of twins in the population of 2,000 families. According to official figures, the village had 280 pairs of twins in 2008 and it only rose to 400 in ten years.

Signboard at the entrance of the village

This is way ahead of the national average of less than 9 in 1000 births, in Kodinhi, the number is as high as 45 in 1,000 births. The five times higher rate of the twins born is certainly a phenomenon that has puzzled biologists.

Walking in the village will invariably make you see identical faces. This is a strange village, where every family has twins.

Some twins posing together

Locals feel it’s God’s blessing that most of the time a woman becomes pregnant she expects it to be twins. The village has been basking under the glory of this interesting phenomenon as the government has placed the milestone, "Welcome to God’s own twins' village, Kodinihi" at the entrance of the village.

According to The New Minute, researchers had collected saliva and hair samples from the twins to study their DNA. This ongoing scientific study is being done along with similar studies on the populations of Hung loc commune in Hung Hiepfrom South Vietnam, Igbo-Ora in Nigeria and Cándido Godói in Brazil, where the number of twin births is high.

There are twins in families - posing together

The studies remain inconclusive. Scientists say where it could a genetic coincidence, there are speculations about a particular element in the air or water in the village being behind this phenomenon.

The president of Twins and Kins Association, the only association of its kind in India, P Bhaskaran says that people of Kodinihi are now eager to know what causes so many twin births in their village.  

Twins of Kodinihi

The population of this village has also increased rapidly due to the birth of twins. The villagers say due to a higher possibility of twins been born to the woman, they have to plan their families accordingly.

For the time being the village has also become a tourist attraction for being India’s only village with most twins.