Grantha Script: Writing System and Evolutionary History

transcript

Grantha script:

Writing system, evolutionary history and inscriptions

Introduction

• Grantha (Also Grantham, Grandham) is currently used to write Sanskrit, and is now exclusively used by Tamil & Malayali Brahmins, especially for Vedic studies and astrology.

• It was earlier used for writing Malayalam, Tamil and 'Manipravalam'.

• It is a descendant, through the Southern Branch, of the Brahmi script.

• And like it, is classified as an abugida (i.e. each unit or akshara is made of a consonant + inherent vowel).

• Grantha takes its name from the Sanskrit word for 'book', and true to its name, is found a lot more on books and palm leaf manuscripts than on epigraphs.

Writing System

• Vowels - 14• Consonants - 34• Numerals - 10

• Grantha, like all other Brahmic scripts except Mahajani has special diacritics called mātrā for vowels

• Complex conjuct forms are rampant in Grantha, unlike northern scripts. Malayalam also had them, till simplification of orthography in the 1960s & 70s.

Vowels - simple

अ आ इ ई उ ऊഅ ആ ഇ ഈ ഉ ഊ அ ஆ இ ஈ உ ஊ

Vowels - consonantal

ऋ ॠ ऌ ॡ ഋ ൠ ഌ ൡ

As far as I know, ऌ is attested in only one Sanskrit word, the verb क्ऌप meaning to manage or to be well ordered.The only purpose of ॡ seems to be to preserve the symmetry of the vowel arrangements.(http://sanskritdocuments.org/learning_tutorial_wikner/P003.html)

Vowels - derived

ए ऐ ओ औ ഏ ഐ ഓ ഔ ஏ ஐ ஓ ஔ

Vowels - nasal

अं अः അം അഃ - ஃ

अँ is unrepresented in the known Grantha corpus, though Telugu uses the half-moon (c) character to represent the anunāsika.(http://sanskritdocuments.org/learning_tutorial_wikner/P003.html)

Consonants - guttural (ka hya)ṇṭ

क ख ग घ ङ ക ഖ ഗ ഘ ങ க ங

Consonants - palatal (tālavya)

च छ ज झ ञ ച ഛ ജ ഝ ഞ ச ஜ* ஞ

*This character has been borrowed from Grantha into Tamil for writing loan words.

Consonants - retroflex (mūrdhanya)

ट ठ ड ढ ण ട ഠ ഡ ഢ ണ ட ண

Consonants - dental (dantya)

त थ द ध न ത ഥ ദ ധ ന த ந, ன

Consonants - labial (o hya)ṣṭ

प फ ब भ म പ ഫ ബ ഭ

മ ப ம

Consonants - approximant (antastha)

य र ल व ळ യ ര ല വ ള ய ர ல வ ள

Consonants - fricative (ū ma)ṣ

श ष स ह ശ ഷ സ ഹ ஶ* ஷ* ஸ* ஹ*

As in other Indian languages, the vocalisations of श and ष have merged into one sound.

*These characters has been borrowed from Grantha into Tamil for writing loan words.

Numerals

As in other Indian scripts, these numerals are no longer in use.

Mātrās

ക് ക കാ കി കീ കു കൂ க் க கா கி கீ க க

Mātrās

കൃ

Mātrās

െക ൈക െകാ െകൌ കം കഃெக ைக ெகா ெகௌ

Special Mātrā placements

Some consonant ligatures

Ligatures are written when possible, else the letters are stacked.

Stacking

-y and -r

Now write your namein Grantha

Write the nameof someone you love

Write your classmates' names

Write your address

Homework:write your favourite Bollywood song

in Grantha

Evolutionary History

INTERVAL

http://www.ancientscripts.com/sa_ws.html

Tigalari

Pallava*

Southern Brahmi

• The south developed a more cursive form of Brahmi, that by the 3rd c. AD had developed into the proto Kadamba-Pallava script

Chalukya scripts

• The script under the patronage of the Kadambas, Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Shilaharas and Hoysalas would ultimately evolve into the Halegannada script in the Deccan

• Under the later Western (Kalyani) & Eastern (Vengi) Chalukyas, the Cholas and then the Pandyas, the Kadamba-Pallava script underwent further evolution, to a tighter, less grandiose form, now looking more like modern Grantha

http://www.skyknowledge.com/pallava.htm

Burnell, Elements of South-Indian Palaeography, plate I

Vengi copper plate

Burnell, Elements of South-Indian Palaeography, plate III

Chalukya copper plate, 622 AD

Burnell, Elements of South-Indian Palaeography, plate IV

Pallava script

• Under Pallava patronage, the script developed into an elaborate form with large strokes

Cave temple inscription

• Dhalavanur rock-cut temple of Mahendravarman I Pallava (580-630 AD)

http://travel.bhushavali.com/2012_11_01_archive.html

Cave temple inscription

• Mahendravadi rock-cut temple of Mahendravarman I Pallava

http://travel.bhushavali.com/2012_11_01_archive.html

Mahendravaraman's coinagePa ka meaning either – 1 panam– short for 'Pakapetuku' (Terror to the Enemy)

http://www.worldofcoins.eu/forum/index.php?topic=31274.0

Pallava in South East Asia

Merchant contact with South East Asia in the Pallava and Chola periods took the Pallava-Grantha script continuum thither.

Pyu script (4th - 6th c AD)

http://lionslayer.yoeyar.com/?p=823

Examples

http://www.skyknowledge.com/pallava.htm, http://tamilnation.co/heritage/pallava.htm

Purnavarman of Java

Fang in North Thailand, est. late 7th c. AD

Post-Pallava period

• The Pallava script seems to be the basis for both the later Tamil script and the Grantha script.

• This is a possibly unique case of sympatric evolution of two scripts, each adapted to writing a different language.

• By Vijayanagar times, the Grantha script had stabilised to its current form.

Development of Grantha

http://www.ciillibrary.org/Sites/Photography/Images/Grantha - Tamil.jpg

Chera period inscription

• Prasasthi of King Rama Rajasekhara of Mahodayapura, 24 May 871

http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/history-and-culture/ancient-inscription-throws-new-light-on-chera-history/article1200089.ece

Grantha - Pillar edict

Rajaraja I (985-1012),

Thanjavur Museum

http://www.tnarch.gov.in/epi/ins3.htm

Grantha - copper plate grant

Uttama Chola (Parakesarivarman), Chennai Museum

Grantha - coin

Travancore Velli Fanam - 1036 KE (1861 CE) 1 fanam

http://www.coinnetwork.com/photo/travancore-rama-varma-iv-1860-1880-velli-fanam-km-22-reverse

Symbol for 1000

Symbol for 10 Symbol for year(varusha)

Symbol for panam

Grantha - manuscript

• Sarvamoola granthas attributed to Madvacharya (1238-1317)

http://phys.org/news77908116.html

• Sarga 131 of the Yuddha Kanda of the Valmiki Ramayana

http://www.vidyavrikshah.org/manuscripts/mssa.html

• 19th c. palm leaf manuscript, Kaumara vyakaranam

Cursive scripts• In addition to the formal Tamil script, the Vatteluttu (rounded writing)

script developed alongside as a cursive for writing Tamil and Malayalam.• There are two more scripts from this period, Kolezhuthu (straight writing)

and Malayanma.

http://chintha.com/keralam/malayalam/vattezhuthu-kolezhuthu-malayanma.html

Vattezhuttu Malayanma Kolezhuttu

Vattezhuthu inscriptions

Rajaraja Chola I, Brihadisvara temple wall, Thanjavur.

849 AD copper-plate grant issued by the King of Venadu to the Syrian Christians

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tharisapalli_plates

Derivatives of Grantha

• A Western form of Grantha developed into the Tigalari script, from which both modern Malayalam and Tulu scripts are derived.

• Modern Malayalam owes its current form to Benjamin Bailey's CMS Press (1821). The advent of the press and the choice of a Tigalari-derived font led to the decline of other scripts used to write Malayalam, especially Grantha.

Tigalari/Tulu script

http://shivallibrahmins.com/tulu-language/tulu-language-and-script/

• Abandoned after 1841, with the advent of Samuel Hebich's Basel Mission Press. Hebich used a version of the Kannada script for Kannada, Tulu and Kodava Takk documents.

• Now being revived by the Tulu Sahitya Academy.

Another version

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tigalari_alphabet

Palm leaf manuscript

• Vidyamadhaviyam-Jyotisha Shastram

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Tigalari-manuscript-Vidyamadhaviyam.jpg

Decline of Grantha

• The advent of printing to India led to a gradual decline of Grantha, due to a two-pronged attack.

• The first Tamil press set up in 1712 at Tranquebar (Tarangambadi) churned out tonnes of printed material in Tamil, especially Christian evangelical literature. To counter this, the native Tamil elite set up their own presses to mass produce Hindu religious literature (starting with Kalvi Vilakkam in 1834). This led to widespread literacy in Tamil, including among Tamil Brahmins, custodians of Grantha.

• The Devanagari script became prevalent for the mass printing of Sanskrit books, with publishers such as Gita Press of Gorakhpur.

Printing Press in South India

• As an aside, Hebich's standardisation also led to the evolution of the modern Kannada script from the Halegannada script.

• The modern Telugu script was standardised from an eastern version of Halegannada by Vavilla Sastrulu's Adi Saraswathi Nilayam (1854).

Homework:transcribe the given page into Devanagari.

Grantha Script: Writing System and Evolutionary History

Education