Ranjana script

Alphabet

Vowels

Consonants

Vowel diacritics

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) (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

Use

Use in Nepal

Rañjana is mostly used for printing Hindu and Buddhist scriptures and literature in Sanskrit and Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit by the Newar community in Kathmandu Valley. 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. 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." The script is also used in Hindu scriptures.

Use in East Asia

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. 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. 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.

Use in Tibet

When Rañjanā was introduced to Tibet, it was referred to as Lantsa (Tibetan: ལཉྫ་), which is simply a Tibetan transcription of the Sanskrit word Sanskrit: लञ्ज or Lañja (which means 'tail' or 'foot'). Lantsa varies somewhat from the standard Rañjanā as written in Nepal today. In particular the glyph shapes of some consonants and ligatures differs and vowel diacritics do not usually change with the consonants ख kha, ग ga, n ञ nya, ठ ṭha ण ṇa, ध dha श sha as described above~ with the sole exception of the letter ठ ṭha. The shape of the numerals or digits also differs.

In Tibet, the Lantsa variant is used to write Buddhist texts in Sanskrit. Examples of such texts include the Mañjuśrīnāmasamgīti, the Diamond Sutra and the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra. The Lantsa script is also found in manuscripts and printed editions of some Sanskrit-Tibetan lexicons such as the Mahāvyutpatti. and it is frequently used on the title pages of Tibetan texts, where the Sanskrit title is often written in Lantsa, followed by a transliteration and translation in the Tibetan script. The script is also used to prepare Mantra and Dharani inserted into Buddhist images and Stupa for consecration, as well as in the drawing of certain mandalas ( similar to the Japanese use of the Siddhaṃ script).

Lantsa is frequently seen on the outside of prayer wheels, and decoratively on the gateways, walls. beams and pillars of Tibetan temples and monasteries.

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

• Lanja
• Landzha
• Lantsha
• Lentsa
• Lendza

Monogram (Kutākshar)

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

Unicode

A Unicode block for the script has first been proposed in 2009 by Michael Everson and updated in December 2013, and last revised with additional details in January 2023 by Anshuman Pandey.