Ranjana script

Rañjanā is a Brahmic script which developed around 1100 CE. It was used in Nepal and is still used in Nepal by the Newar people to write the Newar language. The script is also used in most of the Mahayana and Vajrayana monasteries.Folk tales from the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal: Black rice and other stories, p.47, Kesar Lall, Ratna Pustak Bhandar Along with the Prachalit Nepal alphabet, it is considered one of the scripts of Nepal.[http://www.asianart.com/articles/inscriptions/index.html Nepalese Inscriptions in the Rubin Collection] It is the formal script of Nepal duly registered in the United Nation while applying for the free Nation.{{cn|date=May 2017}} 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.[http://nagarjunainstitute.com/bs_hiranya.htm Nagarjuna Institute: Buddhist Sites of Nepal – Hiraynavarna Mahavihara]

After falling into disuse in the mid-20th century, the script has recently seen an 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.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}} A Nepalese-German project is trying to conserve the manuscripts of Rañjanā script.[http://malaiya.tripod.com/ranjana/ Ranjana Script]{{Sps|date=May 2017}}

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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){{cite book |last=Shakya |first=Robison |date=2002 |title=Alphabet of the Nepalese Script:Nepāla lipi varṇamālā|location=Nakabahila Lalitpur |publisher=Motirāj Śhākya, Thayakalaya |page=23 |isbn=9993334367 }} (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.)

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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.{{Cite web|url=https://unicode.org/wg2/docs/n3649.pdf|title=Preliminary proposal for encoding the Rañjana script in the SMP of the UCS|author=Michael Everson|date=May 4, 2009|id=n3649}}{{Cite web|url=http://pnclink.org/annual/annual2000/2000pdf/6-4-2.pdf|title=Preservation of Sanskrit Buddhist Manuscripts in the Kathmandu Valley: Its importance and future|author=Min Bahadur Shakya}} 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."{{Cite web|url=http://www.teachingsofthebuddha.com/om_mani_padme_hum.htm|title=Teachings of the Buddha}}{{Sps|date=May 2017}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.dharma-haven.org/tibetan/meaning-of-om-mani-padme-hung.htm|title=Dharma Haven}}{{Sps|date=May 2017}}{{Cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080312205010/http://www.geocities.com/ranjanafont/introduction.htm|title=Ranjana font}}{{Sps|date=May 2017}} The script is also used in Hindu scriptures.{{Cite web|url=http://www.asianart.com/exhibitions/svision/i49.html|title=Asian art}}

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.Chattopadhayaya, Alaka (1999). Atisa and Tibet: Life and Works of Dipamkara Srijnana: p. 201 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.Jiang, Wu (2008). Enlightenment in Dispute: The Reinvention of Chan Buddhism in Seventeenth-Century China: p. 146 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.{{Cite web|title=Ma Phương :: Tinh Hoa Đông Phương|url=https://maphuong.com/Print_article/print_page/311|access-date=2021-08-24|website=maphuong.com}}

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When Rañjanā was introduced to Tibet, it was referred to as Lantsa ({{bo|t=ལཉྫ་}}), which is simply a Tibetan transcription of the Sanskrit word {{langx|sa|लञ्ज }} or Lañja (which means 'tail' or 'foot').{{cite web |url=https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/lany+dza |title= lany+dza|date= |website=Dharma Dictionary |publisher=Tsadra Foundation|access-date=2022-03-19 }} 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.[http://www.omniglot.com/writing/ranjana.htm Ranjana script and Nepal Bhasa (Newari) language] 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

File:Kutākshar - Jana Bahal 01.jpg.]]

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

A Unicode block for the script has first been proposed in 2009 by Michael Everson and updated in December 2013,{{Cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2013/13243-ranjana.pdf|title=Preliminary proposal to Encode Ranjana Script in ISO/IEC 10646|author=Dev Dass Manandhar, Samir Karmacharya and Bishnu Chitrakar|date=December 31, 2013}} and last revized with additional details in January 2023 by Anshuman Pandey.{{Cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2023/23028-ranjana.pdf|title=Preliminary proposal to encode Ranjana in Unicode|author=Anshuman Pandey|date=January 5, 2023}}

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{{reflist|2}}

• [https://www.mediafire.com/file/ddwsgd36b8g5il6/Ranjana%20Regular.zip Download Ranjana Newari Regular Font]

• {{cite web|last1=Everson|first1=Michael|authorlink=Michael Everson|date=2009|url=https://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n3649.pdf|title=Preliminary proposal for encoding the Rañjana script in the SMP of the UCS|id=n3649}}
• {{cite web|last1=Everson|first1=Michael|authorlink=Michael Everson|date=2009|url=https://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n3692.pdf|title=Roadmapping the scripts of Nepal|id=n3692}}
• Fynn, Christopher John. [http://malaiya.tripod.com/ranjana/ Ranjana (Lantsa) script]
• {{cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2016/16015-ranjana.pdf|last1=Pandey|first1=Anshuman|date=2016|id=L2/L2016/16015|title=Towards an encoding for the Ranjana and Lantsa scripts}}
• [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/ranjana.htm Ranjana script on Omniglot]
• [http://www.lantsha-vartu.org/ranjanascript/index.html Ranjana script]
• Saerji. (2009). [http://www.fanfoyan.com/resour/pale/astasahasrika.pdf Rañjanā script: Akṣara List of the Manuscript of Aṣṭasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā (ca. the 11–12th Centuries)]. Research Institute of Sanskrit Manuscripts & Buddhist Literature, Peking University.

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Category:Newar

Category:Brahmic scripts

Category:Newar language

Category:Writing systems of Newar language