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| Siddham script Siddhaṃ 𑖭𑖰𑖟𑖿𑖠𑖽 | |
|---|---|
 The wordSiddhaṃ in Siddhaṃ script | |
| Script type | |
Period | c. late 6th century[1] –c. 1200 CE[note 1] |
| Direction | Left-to-right  |
| Languages | Sanskrit |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | |
Child systems | |
Sister systems | Sharada,[2][3][5]Tibetan,[4]Kalinga,Bhaiksuki |
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Sidd(302), Siddham, Siddhaṃ, Siddhamātṛkā |
| Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Siddham |
| U+11580–U+115FF Final Accepted Script Proposal | |
| Brahmic scripts |
|---|
| TheBrahmi script and its descendants |
Siddhāṃ (also known asKutila[5][8]) is anIndic script used in India from the 6th century to the 13th century. Also known in its later evolved form asSiddhamātṛkā, Siddham is a medievalBrahmicabugida, derived from theGupta script and ancestral to theNāgarī,Eastern Nagari,Tirhuta,Odia andNepalese scripts.[9][10] The Siddham script was widely used by Indian Buddhists and still remains in use byEast Asian Buddhists, especially for writingmantras,seed syllables, anddharanis.[11]
The wordSiddhaṃ means "accomplished", "completed" or "perfected" inSanskrit. The script received its name from the practice of writingSiddhaṃ, orSiddhaṃ astu ('may there be perfection'), at the head of documents. Other names for the script includebonji (Japanese:梵字) "Brahma's characters" and "Sanskrit script" andChinese:悉曇文字;pinyin:Xītán wénzi "Siddhaṃ script".
TheSiddham script evolved from the Gupta Brahmi script in the late 6th century CE.[1]
ManyBuddhist texts taken to China along theSilk Road were written using a version of theSiddhaṃ script. This continued to evolve, and minor variations are seen across time, and in different regions. Importantly, it was used for transmitting the Buddhisttantra texts. At the time it was considered important to preserve the pronunciation of mantras, and Chinese was not suitable for writing the sounds of Sanskrit. This led to the retention of theSiddhaṃ script in East Asia. The practice of writing usingSiddhaṃ survived in East Asia whereChinese Esoteric Buddhism persisted.
Kūkai introduced theSiddhaṃ script to Japan when he returned from China in 806, where he studied Sanskrit withNalanda-trained monks including one known as Prajñā (Chinese:般若三藏;pinyin:Bōrě Sāncáng; 734–c. 810). By the time Kūkai learned this script, the trading and pilgrimage routes over land to India had been closed by the expandingAbbasid Caliphate.[12]
In the middle of the 9th century, China experienced aseries of purges of "foreign religions", thus cutting Japan off from the sources ofSiddhaṃ texts. In time, other scripts, particularlyDevanagari, replacedSiddhaṃ in India, whileSiddhaṃ's northeastern derivative calledGaudi evolved to become theEastern Nagari,Tirhuta,Odia and also theNepalese scripts in the eastern andnortheastern regions ofSouth Asia,[13][14] leaving East Asia as the only region whereSiddhaṃ is still used.
There were special forms of Siddhaṃ used in Korea that varied significantly from those used in China and Japan, and there is evidence that Siddhaṃ was written inCentral Asia, as well, by the early 7th century.
As was done with Chinese characters, Japanese Buddhist scholars sometimes created multiple characters with the same phonological value to add meaning to Siddhaṃ characters. This practice, in effect, represents a 'blend' of the Chinese style of writing and the Indian style of writing and allows Sanskrit texts in Siddhaṃ to be differentially interpreted as they are read, as was done with Chinese characters that the Japanese had adopted. This led to multiple variants of the same characters.[15]
Siddhaṃ is anabugida rather than analphabet, as each character indicates a syllable, including a consonant and (possibly) a vowel. If the vowel sound is not explicitly indicated, the short 'a' is assumed. Diacritic marks are used to indicate other vowels, as well as theanusvara andvisarga. Avirama can be used to indicate that the consonant letter stands alone with no vowel, which sometimes happens at the end of Sanskrit words.
Siddhaṃ texts were usually written from left to right then top to bottom, as with other Brahmic scripts, but occasionally they were written in the traditional Chinese style, from top to bottom then right to left. Bilingual Siddhaṃ-Japanese texts show the manuscript turned 90 degrees clockwise and the Japanese is written from top to bottom, as is typical of Japanese, and then the manuscript is turned back again, and the Siddhaṃ writing is continued from left to right (the resulting Japanese characters appear sideways).
Over time, additional markings were developed, including punctuation marks, head marks, repetition marks, end marks, special ligatures to combine conjuncts and rarely to combine syllables, and several ornaments of the scribe's choice, which are not currently encoded. Thenuqta is also used in some modern Siddhaṃ texts.
| Independent form | Bound form on⟨𑖎𑖿𑖧⟩ | Independent form | Bound form on⟨𑖎𑖿𑖧⟩ |
|---|---|---|---|
𑖀  a | 𑖎𑖿𑖧  | 𑖁  ā | 𑖎𑖿𑖧𑖯  |
𑖂  i | 𑖎𑖿𑖧𑖰  | 𑖃  ī | 𑖎𑖿𑖧𑖱  |
𑖄  u | 𑖎𑖿𑖧𑖲  | 𑖅  ū | 𑖎𑖿𑖧𑖳  |
𑖊  e | 𑖎𑖿𑖧𑖸  | 𑖋  ai | 𑖎𑖿𑖧𑖹  |
𑖌  o | 𑖎𑖿𑖧𑖺  | 𑖍  au | 𑖎𑖿𑖧𑖻  |
𑖀𑖽  aṃ | 𑖎𑖿𑖧𑖽  | 𑖀𑖾  aḥ | 𑖎𑖿𑖧𑖾  |
 ā |  i |  i |  ī |  ī |  u |  ū |  o |  au |  aṃ |
| Independent form | Bound form on⟨𑖎𑖿𑖧⟩ | Independent form | Bound form on⟨𑖎𑖿𑖧⟩ |
|---|---|---|---|
𑖆  ṛ | 𑖎𑖴  ṛ | 𑖇  ṝ | 𑖎𑖵150% ṝ |
𑖈  ḷ | 𑖉  ḹ |
| Stop | Approximant | Fricative | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tenuis | Aspirated | Voiced | Breathy voiced | Nasal | |||
| Glottal | 𑖮  h | ||||||
| Velar | 𑖎  k | 𑖏  kh | 𑖐  g | 𑖑  gh | 𑖒  ṅ | ||
| Palatal | 𑖓  c | 𑖔  ch | 𑖕  j | 𑖖  jh | 𑖗  ñ | 𑖧  y | 𑖫  ś |
| Retroflex | 𑖘  ṭ | 𑖙  ṭh | 𑖚  ḍ | 𑖛  ḍh | 𑖜  ṇ | 𑖨  r | 𑖬  ṣ |
| Dental | 𑖝  t | 𑖞  th | 𑖟  d | 𑖠  dh | 𑖡  n | 𑖩  l | 𑖭  s |
| Bilabial | 𑖢  p | 𑖣  ph | 𑖤  b | 𑖥  bh | 𑖦  m | ||
| Labiodental | 𑖪  v | ||||||
𑖎𑖿𑖬  kṣ | 𑖩𑖿𑖩𑖽  llaṃ |
 ch |  j |  ñ |  ṭ |  ṭh |  ḍh |  ḍh |  ṇ |  ṇ |  th |  th |  dh |  n |  m |  ś |  ś |  v |
| kkṣ | -ya | -ra | -la | -va | -ma | -na |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 𑖎k | 𑖎𑖿𑖧kya | 𑖎𑖿𑖨 kra | 𑖎𑖿𑖩 kla | 𑖎𑖿𑖪 kva | 𑖎𑖿𑖦 kma | 𑖎𑖿𑖡 kna |
𑖨𑖿𑖎 rk | 𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖿𑖧 rkya | 𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖿𑖨 rkra | 𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖿𑖩 rkla | 𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖿𑖪 rkva | 𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖿𑖦 rkma | 𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖿𑖡 rkna |
| 𑖏kh | ||||||
| total 68 rows. | ||||||
𑖒𑖿𑖎 ṅka | 𑖒𑖿𑖏 ṅkha | 𑖒𑖿𑖐 ṅga | 𑖒𑖿𑖑 ṅgha |
𑖗𑖿𑖓 ñca | 𑖗𑖿𑖔 ñcha | 𑖗𑖿𑖕 ñja | 𑖗𑖿𑖖 ñjha |
𑖜𑖿𑖘 ṇṭa | 𑖜𑖿𑖙 ṇṭha | 𑖜𑖿𑖚 ṇḍa | 𑖜𑖿𑖛 ṇḍha |
𑖡𑖿𑖝 nta | 𑖡𑖿𑖞 ntha | 𑖡𑖿𑖟 nda | 𑖡𑖿𑖠 ndha |
𑖦𑖿𑖢 mpa | 𑖦𑖿𑖣 mpha | 𑖦𑖿𑖤 mba | 𑖦𑖿𑖥 mbha |
𑖒𑖿𑖧 ṅya | 𑖒𑖿𑖨 ṅra | 𑖒𑖿𑖩 ṅla | 𑖒𑖿𑖪 ṅva | |
𑖒𑖿𑖫 ṅśa | 𑖒𑖿𑖬 ṅṣa | 𑖒𑖿𑖭 ṅsa | 𑖒𑖿𑖮 ṅha | 𑖒𑖿𑖎𑖿𑖬 ṅkṣa |
𑖭𑖿𑖎 ska | 𑖭𑖿𑖏 skha | 𑖟𑖿𑖐 dga | 𑖟𑖿𑖑 dgha | 𑖒𑖿𑖎𑖿𑖝𑖿𑖨 ṅktra |
𑖪𑖿𑖓 vca/bca | 𑖪𑖿𑖔 vcha/bcha | 𑖪𑖿𑖕 vja/bja | 𑖪𑖿𑖖 vjha/bjha | 𑖕𑖿𑖗 jña |
𑖬𑖿𑖘 ṣṭa | 𑖬𑖿𑖙 ṣṭha | 𑖟𑖿𑖚 dḍa | 𑖟𑖿𑖛 dḍha | 𑖬𑖿𑖜 ṣṇa |
𑖭𑖿𑖝 sta | 𑖭𑖿𑖞 stha | 𑖪𑖿𑖟 vda/bda | 𑖪𑖿𑖠 vdha/bdha | 𑖨𑖿𑖝𑖿𑖭𑖿𑖡 rtsna |
𑖭𑖿𑖢 spa | 𑖭𑖿𑖣 spha | 𑖟𑖿𑖤 dba | 𑖟𑖿𑖥 dbha | 𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖿𑖬𑖿𑖦 rkṣma |
𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖿𑖬𑖿𑖪𑖿𑖧 rkṣvya | 𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖿𑖬𑖿𑖪𑖿𑖨𑖿𑖧 rkṣvrya | 𑖩𑖿𑖝 lta | 𑖝𑖿𑖎𑖿𑖪 tkva |
𑖘𑖿𑖫 ṭśa | 𑖘𑖿𑖬 ṭṣa | 𑖭𑖿𑖮 sha | 𑖤𑖿𑖎𑖿𑖬 bkṣa |
𑖢𑖿𑖝 pta | 𑖘𑖿𑖎 ṭka | 𑖟𑖿𑖭𑖿𑖪 dsva | 𑖘𑖿𑖬𑖿𑖔𑖿𑖨 ṭṣchra |
𑖕𑖿𑖕 jja | 𑖘𑖿𑖘 ṭṭa | 𑖜𑖿𑖜 ṇṇa | 𑖝𑖿𑖝 tta | 𑖡𑖿𑖡 nna | 𑖦𑖿𑖦 mma | 𑖩𑖿𑖩 lla | 𑖪𑖿𑖪 vva |
𑖜𑖿𑖘 ṇṭa | 𑖜𑖿𑖙 ṇṭha | 𑖜𑖿𑖚 ṇḍa | 𑖜𑖿𑖛 ṇḍha |
| 𑖎𑖴kṛ | 𑖏𑖴 khṛ | 𑖐𑖴 gṛ | 𑖑𑖴 ghṛ | 𑖒𑖴 ṅṛ | 𑖓𑖴 cṛ | 𑖔𑖴 chṛ | 𑖕𑖴 jṛ | 𑖖𑖴 jhṛ | 𑖗𑖴 ñṛ |
| 𑖨𑖿𑖎rka | 𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖯 rkā | 𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖰 rki | 𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖱 rkī | 𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖲 rku | 𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖳 rkū | 𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖸 rke | 𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖹 rkai | 𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖺 rko | 𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖻 rkau | 𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖽 rkaṃ | 𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖾 rkaḥ |
| 𑖒𑖿𑖎ṅka | 𑖒𑖿𑖎𑖯 ṅkā | 𑖒𑖿𑖎𑖰 ṅki | 𑖒𑖿𑖎𑖱 ṅkī | 𑖒𑖿𑖎𑖲 ṅku | 𑖒𑖿𑖎𑖳 ṅkū | 𑖒𑖿𑖎𑖸 ṅke | 𑖒𑖿𑖎𑖹 ṅkai | 𑖒𑖿𑖎𑖺 ṅko | 𑖒𑖿𑖎𑖻 ṅkau | 𑖒𑖿𑖎𑖽 ṅkaṃ | 𑖒𑖿𑖎𑖾 ṅkaḥ |
InJapan, the writing ofmantras and copying/reading ofsutras using theSiddhaṃ script is still practiced in the esoteric schools ofShingon Buddhism andTendai as well as in the syncretic sect ofShugendō. The characters are known asBonji (梵字; Chinese:Fànzì) orshittan (悉曇). TheTaishō Tripiṭaka version of theChinese Buddhist canon preserves theSiddhaṃ characters for most mantras, and Korean Buddhists still writebījas in a modified form ofSiddhaṃ. A recent innovation is the writing of Japanese language slogans on T-shirts using Bonji. JapaneseSiddhaṃ has evolved from the original script used to write sūtras and is now somewhat different from the ancient script.[16][17][18]
It is typical to seeSiddhaṃ written with a brush, as with Chinese writing; it is also written with a bamboo pen. In Japan, a special brush called abokuhitsu (朴筆; Cantonese:pokbat) is used for formalSiddhaṃ calligraphy. The informal style is known as "fude" (筆; Cantonese: "moubat").
Siddhaṃ is still largely a hand written script. Some efforts have been made to create computer fonts, though to date none of these are capable of reproducing all of theSiddhaṃ conjunct consonants. Notably, theChinese Buddhist Electronic Texts Association has created aSiddhaṃ font for their electronic version of the TaishoTripiṭaka, though this does not contain all possible conjuncts. The softwareMojikyo also contains fonts for Siddhaṃ, but split Siddhaṃ in different blocks and requires multiple fonts to render a single document.
ASiddhaṃ input system which relies on the CBETA font Siddhamkey 3.0 has been produced.
Siddhaṃ script was added to theUnicode Standard in June 2014 with the release of version 7.0.
The Unicode block for Siddhaṃ is U+11580–U+115FF:
| Siddham[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+1158x | 𑖀 | 𑖁 | 𑖂 | 𑖃 | 𑖄 | 𑖅 | 𑖆 | 𑖇 | 𑖈 | 𑖉 | 𑖊 | 𑖋 | 𑖌 | 𑖍 | 𑖎 | 𑖏 |
| U+1159x | 𑖐 | 𑖑 | 𑖒 | 𑖓 | 𑖔 | 𑖕 | 𑖖 | 𑖗 | 𑖘 | 𑖙 | 𑖚 | 𑖛 | 𑖜 | 𑖝 | 𑖞 | 𑖟 |
| U+115Ax | 𑖠 | 𑖡 | 𑖢 | 𑖣 | 𑖤 | 𑖥 | 𑖦 | 𑖧 | 𑖨 | 𑖩 | 𑖪 | 𑖫 | 𑖬 | 𑖭 | 𑖮 | 𑖯 |
| U+115Bx | 𑖰 | 𑖱 | 𑖲 | 𑖳 | 𑖴 | 𑖵 | 𑖸 | 𑖹 | 𑖺 | 𑖻 | 𑖼 | 𑖽 | 𑖾 | 𑖿 | ||
| U+115Cx | 𑗀 | 𑗁 | 𑗂 | 𑗃 | 𑗄 | 𑗅 | 𑗆 | 𑗇 | 𑗈 | 𑗉 | 𑗊 | 𑗋 | 𑗌 | 𑗍 | 𑗎 | 𑗏 |
| U+115Dx | 𑗐 | 𑗑 | 𑗒 | 𑗓 | 𑗔 | 𑗕 | 𑗖 | 𑗗 | 𑗘 | 𑗙 | 𑗚 | 𑗛 | 𑗜 | 𑗝 | ||
| U+115Ex | ||||||||||||||||
| U+115Fx | ||||||||||||||||
| Notes | ||||||||||||||||
This is a gallery of example usages of the Siddham script.
![A reproduction of the palm-leaf manuscript in Siddham script, originally held at Hōryū-ji Temple, Japan; now located in the Tokyo National Museum at the Gallery of Hōryū—ji Treasure. The original copy may be the earliest extant Sanskrit manuscript of the Heart Sutra dated to the 7th–8th century CE. It also contains the Sanskrit text of the Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī Sūtra and the final line shows the Siddhaṃ abugida.[19]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aFalongsibeiye.svg)
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)In the northeast, meanwhile separately evolved into a form referred to as 'proto-Bengali' or Gaudī, which prevailed until the fourteenth century, by which time it had begun to be differentiated into the modern eastern scripts, Bangla-Asamiya, Maithilī and Oriya.
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