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Ranjana
Type	Abugida
Spoken languages	Nepal Bhasa Sanskrit Tibetan
Time period	c. 1100–present
Parent systems	Proto-Canaanite alphabet [a] Phoenician alphabet [a] Aramaic alphabet [a] Brāhmī Gupta Nepal Mol Ranjana
Child systems	Soyombo
Sister systems	Prachalit Litumol
[a] The Semitic origin of the Brahmic scripts is not universally agreed upon.
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

The Ranjana script (syn: Kutila, Lantsa^[1]) is an abugida writing system developed as a derivative of Brāhmī in 11th century^[2]. It is primarily used for writing Nepal Bhasa but is also used in monasteries of India, Tibet, coastline China, Mongolia, and Japan^[2]. It is usually written from left to right but the Kutakshar form is written from top to bottom^[2]. It is considered to be the calligraphy form of Nepal scripts.

[edit] Development

It is a Brahmic script^[1] and shows similarities to the Devanagari script of northern India and Nepal. The script is also used in most of the Mahayana and Vajrayana monasteries^[3]. Along with the Prachalit script, it is considered as one of the scripts of Nepal^[4].

The holy book Arya Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita Sutra, lettered in gold ink, written by Bhiksu Ananda of Kapitanagar^[5] and dating back to the Nepal Sambat year 345 (1215 A.D.), illustrates the glorious history of the script.

It is the formal script of Nepal duly registered in the United Nation while applying for the free Nation. Therefore, it is vital script to all Nepalese as well.

[edit] Alphabet

a अ	i इ	u उ	e ए	o ओ	ṛ ऋ	ḷ ऌ
ā आ	ī ई	ū ऊ	ai ऐ	au औ	ṝ ॠ	ḹ ॡ

aṃ अं

aḥ अः

k क	kh ख	g ग	gh घ	ṅ ङ
c च	ch छ	j ज	jh झ	ñ ञ
ṭ ट	ṭh ठ	ḍ ड	ḍh ढ	ṇ ण
t त	th थ	d द	dh ध	n न
p प	ph फ	b ब	bh भ	m म
y य	r र	l ल	v व
ś श	ṣ ष	s स	h ह

kṣ क्ष

tr त्र

jñ ज्ञ

[edit] Numerals

0 ०

1 १

2 २

3 ३

4 ४

5 ५

6 ६

7 ७

8 ८

9 ९

[edit] Use

The script is used primarily to write Nepal Bhasa, though sometimes also used to write Sanskrit. In Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhist traditions, it is famously used to write various mantras including the "Om mane padme hum"^[6][7] mantra of Avalokiteshvara, the mantra of Tara "Om tare tuttare ture svaha", and the mantra of Manjushri "Om ara pa cana dhi"^[8]. The script is also used in Hindu scriptures^[9].

In Tibet, the script is called Lantsa and used to write the original texts of Sanskrit^[10].

[edit] Recent Developments

After falling into disuse in the mid-20th century, the script has recently seen dramatically increased use. It is used by many local governments such as those of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City, Bhaktapur Municipality, Thimi Municipality, Kirtipur Municipality, Banepa Municipality, in signboards, letterpads, and such. Regular programs are held in the Kathmandu Valley to promote the script and training classes are held to preserve the language. The script is being endorsed by the Nepal Bhasa movement and is used for headings in newspapers and websites.

A Nepalese-German project is trying to conserve the manuscripts of Ranjana script^[11].

A Unicode block for the script has also been proposed by Evertype^[12].

[edit] See also

• Newa people
• Newa scripts
• Nepal Bhasa
• Brahmi Script

[edit] External links

• Ranjana script
• Newari/Ranjana script page on Omniglot
• Proposal for encoding Newari in Unicode
• Jwajalapa
• Example of script
• Manuscripts in Ranjana
• Ranjana script

[edit] References