Ranjana script

Rañjanā
Script type	Abugida
Time period	c. 1100–present
Direction	Left-to-right
Region	Nepal and India
Languages	Newar Sanskrit Tibetan
Related scripts
Parent systems	Proto-Sinaitic script Phoenician alphabet Aramaic script (?) Brāhmī Gupta Siddham[1] Nepalese Rañjanā
Child systems	Soyombo
Sister systems	Prachalit Bhujimol
ISO 15924
ISO 15924	Ranj, 303 , ​Ranjana
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Street sign in Kathmandu in Ranjana, Devanagari and English.

Signboard of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Office in Ranjana script (second row).

The Rañjanā script (Lantsa^[2]) is an abugida writing system which developed in the 11th century^[3] and until the mid-20th century was used in an area from Nepal to Tibet by the Newar people, the historic inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley, to write Sanskrit and Nepalbhasa. Nowadays it is also used in Buddhist monasteries in India; China, especially in the Tibetan Buddhist areas within the Tibet Autonomous Region, Sichuan, Yunnan, Qinghai and Gansu; Mongolia, and Japan.^[3] It is normally written from left to right but the Kutakshar form is written from top to bottom.^[3] It is also considered to be the standard Nepali calligraphic script.

Development[]

Rañjanā is a Brahmic script which developed around 1100 CE. It is used in India and in Nepal by the Newar people to write the Newar language.^[2] The script is also used in most of the Mahayana and Vajrayana monasteries.^[4] Along with the Prachalit Nepal alphabet, it is considered one of the scripts of Nepal.^[5] It is the formal script of Nepal duly registered in the United Nation while applying for the free Nation.^{[citation needed]} Therefore, it is a vital script to all Nepalese as well.

The Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra lettered in gold ink by Bhiksu Ananda of Kapitanagar and dating back to the Nepal Sambat year 345 (1215 CE) is an early example of the script.^[6]

Alphabet[]

Vowels[]

Mantra in Rañjanā script, on the ceiling of a Buddhist temple in Tianjin, China.

Om in Ranjana script

a अ	aḥ अः	ā आ	āḥ आः	i इ	ī ई	u उ	ū ऊ	ṛ ऋ	ṝ ॠ
ḷ ऌ	ḹ ॡ	e ए	ai ऐ	o ओ	au औ	ã अँ	aṃ अं	ay अय्	āy आय्	ey एय्

Consonants[]

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

Vowel diacritics[]

Vowel diacritic of Ranjana letter 'ग'.

Vowel diacritic of Ranjana letter 'ब'

Vowel diacritic of Ranjana letter 'क'.

The shape of the combining marks indicating the vowels आ ā, ए e, ऐ ai/ē,ओ o, and औ au/ō in Ranjana script take a different form when combined with the eight consonants ख kha, ग ga, n ञ nya, ठ ṭha ण ṇa, थ tha, ध dha or श sha(or where one of these is the first consonant in a combination)^[7] (In addition the vertical marks indicating आ ā or ī may take a shorter form when combined with the consonants क ka, ज्ञ ja, or ठ ṭha.)

Numerals[]

0 ०

1 १

2 २

3 ३

4 ४

5 ५

6 ६

7 ७

8 ८

9 ९

Use[]

Rañjanā "Oṃ" syllables flanking the implements of the Four Heavenly Kings. Jing'an Temple, Shanghai, China.

Sanskrit manuscript in the Rañjanā script. Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, India, 12th century.

Rañjana is mostly used for printing Hindu and Buddhist scriptures and literature in Sanskrit and Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit used by the Newar community. Rañjana is also in current use for printing “high status” documents (wedding invitations, certificates, etc) in Nepal in the Newar language and for Newar language book titles.^[8][9] In Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhist traditions, it is famously used to write various mantras including the "Om mani padme hum" mantra of Avalokiteśvara, the mantra of Tara: "Om tare tuttare ture svaha", and the mantra of Manjusri: "Om a ra pa ca na dhi."^[10][11][12] The script is also used in Hindu scriptures.^[13]

In Chinese Buddhism and other East Asian Buddhism, the standard Sanskrit script for mantras and dhāraṇīs was not the Rañjanā script, but rather the earlier Siddhaṃ script that was widely propagated in China during the Tang dynasty.^[14] However, in late Imperial China, the influence of Tibetan Buddhism popularized the Rañjanā script as well, and so this script is also found throughout East Asia, but is not as common as Siddhaṃ.^[15] In Vietnam, Rañjanā script is often used during Buddhist rituals especially by monks in the central region such as Huế. Talismans are often made using Rañjanā mantras read "Om mani padme hum" or "Om cale cule cundi svaha" the mantra of Cundi Bodhisattva. The script has also been adopted by Vietnamese folk shamans in their use of amulets such as Lỗ Ban phái, a Taoist folk sect that arrived from China named after Lu Ban, patron god of carpenters.^[16]

Use in Tibet[]

When Rañjanā was introduced to Tibet, it was referred to as Lanydza (Tibetan: ལཉྫ་), which simply derives from the Sanskrit word Rañja.^{[14][failed verification]} This script varies slightly from the standard Rañjanā. In Tibet, the Lanydza variant is used to write original texts of Sanskrit.^[17] Examples of such texts include the Mañjuśrīnāmasamgīti, the Diamond Sutra and the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra. The Lanydza script is also found in manuscripts and printed editions of some Sanskrit-Tibetan lexicons like the Mahāvyutpatti.

However, the most frequent use for this script today is on the title pages of Tibetan texts, where the Sanskrit title is often written in Lanydza, followed by a transliteration and translation in the Tibetan script. The script is also used decoratively on temple walls, on the outside of prayer wheels, and in the drawing of mandalas.

Numerous alternative spellings of the term Lanydza exist, including the following:

• Lanja
• Landzha
• Lantsa
• Lantsha
• Lentsa
• Lendza

Monogram (Kutākshar)[]

A Kutākshar monogram on the facade of the Jana Bahal.

Kutākshar is a monogram of the Ranjana script. It is only one of the Nepalese scripts that can be written in monogram.

Since 20th century in modern Nepal[]

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, letter pads, 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 Rañjanā script.^[18]

A Unicode block for the script has also been proposed by Evertype.^[19]

Gallery[]

• 

  Nyingma Tibetan Buddhist temple with decorative use of the Lanydza variant of Rañjanā .
• 

  The Vajra Guru Mantra in the Lanydza variant of Rañjanā and in the Tibetan script.
• 

  The Mantra of Tara in the Lanydza variant of Rañjanā and Tibetan script.
• 

  Invitation card.
• 

  Sandhya Times daily.

References[]

External links[]

• Download Ranjana Newari Regular Font
• Everson, Michael (2009). "Preliminary proposal for encoding the Rañjana script in the SMP of the UCS" (PDF). n3649.
• Everson, Michael (2009). "Roadmapping the scripts of Nepal" (PDF). n3692.
• Fynn, Christopher John. Ranjana (Lantsa) script
• Pandey, Anshuman (2016). "Towards an encoding for the Ranjana and Lantsa scripts" (PDF). L2/L2016/16015.
• Ranjana script on Omniglot
• Ranjana script
• Saerji. (2009). Rañjanā script: Akṣara List of the Manuscript of Aṣṭasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā (ca. the 11-12th Centuries). Research Institute of Sanskrit Manuscripts & Buddhist Literature, Peking University.