| Nandināgarī 𑧁𑧞𑦿𑧒𑧁𑧑𑦰𑧈𑧓 | |
|---|---|
 The wordNandināgarī in Nandināgarī script | |
| Script type | |
Period | c. 11th to 19th century |
| Direction | Left-to-right  |
| Languages | Sanskrit andKannada |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | |
Sister systems | Devanāgarī,Kaithi,Gujarāti,Moḍī |
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Nand(311), Nandinagari |
| Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Nandinagari |
| U+119A0–U+119FF | |
| This article containsphonetic transcriptions in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. For the distinction between[ ],/ / and ⟨ ⟩, seeIPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters. | |
| Brahmic scripts |
|---|
| TheBrahmi script and its descendants |
Nandināgarī is a Brahmic script derived from theNāgarī script which appeared in the 7th century AD.[2] This script and its variants were used in the centralDeccan region andsouth India,[2] and an abundance of Sanskrit manuscripts in Nandināgarī have been discovered but remain untransliterated.[3][4] Some of the discovered manuscripts of Madhvacharya of theDvaita Vedanta school ofHinduism are in Nandināgarī script.[5]
It is a sister script toDevanāgarī, which is common in other parts of India.[6]
Nāgarī comes fromनगर (nagara), which means city.[7]
There have been Nandināgarī inscriptions from the Kakatiya period found in Mahabubabad, located 212 km from Nandi Nagar, Hyderabad.[8]
The first part of the term "Nandi" is ambiguous in its context. It may mean "sacred" or "auspicious" (cf. Nandi verses in Sanskrit drama).[citation needed] Nandi is the name of Lord Siva's Vrishabhavahana (bull vehicle), a revered icon, and it may be the source of the name.[citation needed]
Nandināgarī is a Brāhmī-based script that was used in southern India between the 11th and 19th centuries AD for producing manuscripts and inscriptions in Sanskrit in southMaharashtra,Karnataka andAndhra Pradesh. It derives from the central group of Nāgarī scripts and is related to Devanāgarī. There are also several styles of Nandināgarī, considered by scholars as variant forms of the script.[6][9]
Some of the earliest inscriptions in Nandināgarī have been found inTamil Nadu. The 8th century Narasimha Pallava's stone inscriptions inMamallapuram on Tamil Nadu's coast, the 10th-century coins from Chola king Rajaraja's period, the Paliyam copper plate inscriptions of the 9th century Ay king Varagunam are all in Nandināgarī script.[10][11] ARigveda manuscript has been found written in Nandināgarī script,[12] as well as manuscripts of other Vedas.[13] Manuscripts of the first century BCEVikramacarita, also known as the "Adventures ofVikrama" or the "Hindu Book of Tales",[14] have been found in Nandinagari script.[15]
In aTravancore temple ofKerala, anAnantasayana Mahatmya palm-leaf manuscript was found, and it is in Nandināgarī script.[16]
Nandināgarī script was used to spell theSanskrit language, and many Sanskrit copper plate inscriptions of theVijayanagar Empire were written in that script.[1]
Numerous Sanskrit manuscripts written in Nandināgarī have been discovered in South India, but it is one of the least documented and studied ancient scripts of India.[17] These coverVedas, philosophy, commentaries on ancient works,[18] mythology, science and arts.[4][19][20] These are preserved in the manuscript libraries, particularly those in the southern regions of the country.[3] Some Nandināgarī texts are in biscript that include other major south India language scripts, such as Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada scripts.[21]
Nandināgarī and Devanāgarī scripts are very close and share many similarities, but they also show systematic differences. Nandināgarī differs from Devanāgarī more in the shape of its vowels, and less in many consonant shapes.[1] It has an overline at the top of each character but does not conjoin them across whole words as one long, connected, horizontal line (shirorekhā). Nandināgarī is thus a sister script of Devanāgarī, but not a trivial variation.[6]
The Nandināgarī manuscripts also show cosmetic and style differences, such as the use of distinctAnusvaras and method of labeling each hymn or verse.[22]
Nandināgarī script was added to theUnicode Standard in March 2019 with the release of version 12.0.
The Unicode block for Nandināgarī is U+119A0–U+119FF:
| Nandinagari[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF) | ||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
| U+119Ax | 𑦠 | 𑦡 | 𑦢 | 𑦣 | 𑦤 | 𑦥 | 𑦦 | 𑦧 | 𑦪 | 𑦫 | 𑦬 | 𑦭 | 𑦮 | 𑦯 | ||
| U+119Bx | 𑦰 | 𑦱 | 𑦲 | 𑦳 | 𑦴 | 𑦵 | 𑦶 | 𑦷 | 𑦸 | 𑦹 | 𑦺 | 𑦻 | 𑦼 | 𑦽 | 𑦾 | 𑦿 |
| U+119Cx | 𑧀 | 𑧁 | 𑧂 | 𑧃 | 𑧄 | 𑧅 | 𑧆 | 𑧇 | 𑧈 | 𑧉 | 𑧊 | 𑧋 | 𑧌 | 𑧍 | 𑧎 | 𑧏 |
| U+119Dx | 𑧐 | 𑧑 | 𑧒 | 𑧓 | 𑧔 | 𑧕 | 𑧖 | 𑧗 | 𑧚 | 𑧛 | 𑧜 | 𑧝 | 𑧞 | 𑧟 | ||
| U+119Ex | 𑧠 | 𑧡 | 𑧢 | 𑧣 | 𑧤 | |||||||||||
| U+119Fx | ||||||||||||||||
| Notes | ||||||||||||||||
