Siddhaṃ script

Siddham script Siddhaṃ 𑖭𑖰𑖟𑖿𑖠𑖽
The Siddhaṃ Alphabet Chart
Script type	Abugida
Period	c. late 6th century – c. 1200 CE
Direction	Left-to-right
Languages	Sanskrit
Related scripts
Parent systems	Egyptian hieroglyphs Proto-Sinaitic Phoenician Aramaic Brahmi Gupta Siddham script
Child systems	Nagari Gaudi script Assamese Bengali Odia Tirhuta Nepalese
Sister systems	Sharada Tibetan, Kalinga, Bhaiksuki
ISO 15924
ISO 15924	Sidd (302), ​Siddham, Siddhaṃ, Siddhamātṛkā
Unicode
Unicode alias	Siddham
Unicode range	U+11580–U+115FF Final Accepted Script Proposal Variant Forms

Siddhaṃ (also known as Kutila) is an Indic script used in India from the 6th century to the 13th century. Also known in its later evolved form as Siddhamātṛkā, Siddham is a medieval Brahmic abugida, derived from the Gupta script and ancestral to the Nāgarī, Eastern Nagari, Tirhuta, Odia and Nepalese scripts. The Siddham script was widely used by Indian Buddhists and still remains in use by East Asian Buddhists, especially for writing mantras, seed syllables, and dharanis.

The word Siddhaṃ means "accomplished", "completed" or "perfected" in Sanskrit. The script received its name from the practice of writing Siddhaṃ, or Siddhaṃ astu ('may there be perfection'), at the head of documents. Other names for the script include bonji (Japanese: 梵字; lit. 'Brahma's characters'), "Sanskrit script", and xitan wenzi (simplified Chinese: 悉昙文字; traditional Chinese: 悉曇文字; pinyin: Xītán wénzi; lit. 'Siddham script').

History

The Siddham script traces directly back to Early Brāhmī, the foundational script of South Asia, which was used during the Mauryan period (c. 3rd century BCE). Between the 4th and 6th centuries CE, Ashokan Brāhmī diversified into distinct regional styles. In Northern India, it developed into the Gupta script (sometimes termed Late Brahmi or Early Nagari), which served as the official administrative and literary hand of the Gupta Empire. During the late 6th century CE, the Gupta script underwent structural and calligraphic refinements, giving rise to Siddhamātṛkā. The defining features of this transitional period were the introduction of sharply angled stroke terminations and solid triangular or wedge-shaped head-marks (śirorekhā). Because of these prominent bends and loops, some epigraphists and classical historians referred to this transitional northern script as Kuṭila (Sanskrit for "crooked" or "bent"). Among the earliest specimens of the Siddhaṃ script are the Bodhgaya inscription of Mahanaman, dated 588/89 CE, and the Lakhamandal inscription.

Rubbing of the Bodh Gayā inscription of Mahānāman

By the 7th century CE, Siddhaṃ had become the primary script used across Northern India for transcribing classical Sanskrit literature, royal land-grant charters (tāmra-paṭṭa), and religious texts, particularly within Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna Buddhist monastic universities such as Nālandā and Vikramaśīla. The mature Siddhamātṛkā tradition became particularly important for the writing of Sanskrit. Its period coincided with the expansion of Sanskrit as a language of religious, intellectual and political expression across Northern India. Siddham was consequently used in inscriptions and manuscripts, including Buddhist texts and ritual literature. Buddhist monks and pilgrims carried Sanskrit manuscripts written in Siddham to Central and East Asia. Siddhaṃ was used not only in northern and eastern India but also in the west, where it displaced the southern-style scripts that had previously predominated there. Siddhaṃ occasionally appeared in the Deccan and even the far south, as in the Pattadakal bilingual inscription. In this respect Siddhamātṛkā precursed the later role of its daughter script Devanāgarī, as a quasi-national script that was often preferred for writing Sanskrit, even outside the regions where it originated.

A Siddhaṃ manuscript of the Heart Sutra. Bibliothèque nationale de France

Beginning around the 9th and 10th centuries CE, the Siddhaṃ script began to transition into regional variants, represented by Nāgarī in the north and west, and Gauḍī in the east. By the 11th century, Siddham had been replaced for epigraphic and literary purposes by (Deva-)nagari, which had reached its now standard form.

The word Siddhaṃ in Siddhaṃ script

Spread to East Asia

Many Buddhist texts taken to China along the Silk Road were written using a version of the Siddhaṃ script. This continued to evolve, and minor variations are seen across time, and in different regions. Importantly, it was used for transmitting the Buddhist tantra 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 the Siddhaṃ script in East Asia. The practice of writing using Siddhaṃ survived in East Asia where Chinese Esoteric Buddhism persisted.

Chinese Buddhist sources knew the script as Xitan (悉曇), from Sanskrit Siddham, and Japanese Buddhist traditions later adopted it under the name Bonji (梵字). In East Asia, Siddham became particularly associated with the transcription of Sanskrit mantras, dhāraṇīs and bīja or "seed syllables". The East Asian tradition further developed Siddham calligraphic forms, split between Chinese, Japanese and Korean styles.

Kūkai introduced the Siddhaṃ script to Japan when he returned from China in 806, where he studied Sanskrit with Nalanda-trained monks including one known as Prajñā (734–c. 810). By the time Kūkai learned this script, the trading and pilgrimage routes over land to India had been closed by the expanding Abbasid Caliphate.

In the middle of the 9th century, China experienced a series of purges of "foreign religions", thus cutting Japan off from the sources of Siddhaṃ texts. In time, other scripts, particularly Devanagari, replaced Siddhaṃ in India, while Siddhaṃ's northeastern derivative called Gaudi evolved to become the Eastern Nagari, Tirhuta, Odia and also the Nepalese scripts in the eastern and northeastern regions of South Asia, leaving East Asia as the only region where Siddhaṃ 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 in Central Asia, as well, by the early 7th century.

Characteristics

Siddhaṃ is an abugida rather than an alphabet, 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 the anusvara and visarga. A virama 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. The nuqta is also used in some modern Siddhaṃ texts.

Vowels and syllables

Siddhaṃ includes five long vowels, five short vowels, two vocalic consonants, ṛ and ḷ which are treated as vowels and may be short or long, and two part-vowels, anusvara ⟨𑖽⟩ ṁ and visarga, ⟨𑖾⟩ ḥ. Independent vowel letters are used for word-initial vowels. Otherwise, vowels, vocalics, and part-vowels are written as diacritics attached to consonants. Each consonant in Siddham includes an inherent vowel a, so the letter ⟨𑖎⟩, for example, is pronounced ka. Adding a vowel diacritic modifies the vowel sound, so ⟨𑖎𑖿𑖧⟩ plus the diacritic ⟨𑖺⟩, gives the syllable ⟨𑖎𑖿𑖧𑖺⟩, ko. The absence of a vowel is marked with a virāma ⟨𑖿⟩, for example, ⟨𑖎⟩ ka plus ⟨𑖿⟩ creates an isolated consonant ⟨𑖎𑖿⟩ k.

Vowels

	short					long
independent	𑖀 a	𑖂 i	𑖄 u	𑖊 e	𑖌 o	𑖁 ā	𑖃 ī	𑖅 ū	𑖋 ai	𑖍 au
diacritic	◌	𑖰 i	𑖲 u	𑖸 e	𑖺 o	𑖯 ā	𑖱 ī	𑖳 ū	𑖹 ai	𑖻 au
syllable with 𑖎	◌	𑖎𑖰 ki	𑖎𑖲 ku	𑖎𑖸 ke	𑖎𑖺 ko	𑖎𑖯 kā	𑖎𑖱 kī	𑖎𑖳 kū	𑖎𑖹 kai	𑖎𑖻 kau

Other syllables

	syllabic consonants				other modifiers
	short		long		nasal		aspiration	vowel killer
independent	𑖎𑖴 ṛ	𑖈 ḷ	𑖇 ṝ	𑖉 ḹ	◌	◌	◌	◌
diacritic	𑖴 kṛ	◌	𑖵 kṝ	◌	𑖽 ṃ	𑖼 ṃ	𑖾 ḥ	𑖿
syllable with 𑖎	𑖎𑖴 kṛ	𑖎𑖈 kḷ	𑖎𑖵 kṝ	𑖎𑖉 kḹ	𑖎𑖽 kaṃ	𑖎𑖼 kaṃ	𑖎𑖾 kaḥ	𑖎𑖿 k

Consonants

	Stop					Approximant	Fricative
	Tenuis	Aspirated	Voiced	Breathy	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

Two conjuncts are also treated as part of the alphabet.

𑖎𑖿𑖬 kṣ

𑖩𑖿𑖩𑖽 llaṃ

Conjuncts

k$\cdots$kṣ	-ya	-ra	-la	-va	-ma	-na
𑖎 k	𑖎𑖿𑖧 kya	𑖎𑖿𑖨 kra	𑖎𑖿𑖩 kla	𑖎𑖿𑖪 kva	𑖎𑖿𑖦 kma	𑖎𑖿𑖡 kna
𑖨𑖿𑖎 rk	𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖿𑖧 rkya	𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖿𑖨 rkra	𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖿𑖩 rkla	𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖿𑖪 rkva	𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖿𑖦 rkma	𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖿𑖡 rkna
𑖏 kh	$\cdots$
$\vdots$    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

$\cdots$

Alternative forms of conjuncts that contain ṇ.

𑖜𑖿𑖘 ṇṭa

𑖜𑖿𑖙 ṇṭha

𑖜𑖿𑖚 ṇḍa

𑖜𑖿𑖛 ṇḍha

ṛ syllables

𑖎𑖴 kṛ

𑖏𑖴 khṛ

𑖐𑖴 gṛ

𑖑𑖴 ghṛ

𑖒𑖴 ṅṛ

𑖓𑖴 cṛ

𑖔𑖴 chṛ

𑖕𑖴 jṛ

𑖖𑖴 jhṛ

𑖗𑖴 ñṛ

$\cdots$

Some sample syllables

𑖨𑖿𑖎 rka	𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖯 rkā	𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖰 rki	𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖱 rkī	𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖲 rku	𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖳 rkū	𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖸 rke	𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖹 rkai	𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖺 rko	𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖻 rkau	𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖽 rkaṃ	𑖨𑖿𑖎𑖾 rkaḥ
𑖒𑖿𑖎 ṅka	𑖒𑖿𑖎𑖯 ṅkā	𑖒𑖿𑖎𑖰 ṅki	𑖒𑖿𑖎𑖱 ṅkī	𑖒𑖿𑖎𑖲 ṅku	𑖒𑖿𑖎𑖳 ṅkū	𑖒𑖿𑖎𑖸 ṅke	𑖒𑖿𑖎𑖹 ṅkai	𑖒𑖿𑖎𑖺 ṅko	𑖒𑖿𑖎𑖻 ṅkau	𑖒𑖿𑖎𑖽 ṅkaṃ	𑖒𑖿𑖎𑖾 ṅkaḥ

Usage

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.

In Japan, the writing of mantras and copying/reading of sutras using the Siddhaṃ script is still practiced in the esoteric schools of Shingon Buddhism and Tendai as well as in the syncretic sect of Shugendō. The characters are known as bonji (梵字; Chinese: fànzì) or shittan (悉曇). The Taishō Tripiṭaka version of the Chinese Buddhist canon preserves the Siddhaṃ characters for most mantras, and Korean Buddhists still write bījas in a modified form of Siddhaṃ. A recent innovation is the writing of Japanese language slogans on T-shirts using bonji. Japanese Siddhaṃ has evolved from the original script used to write sūtras and is now somewhat different from the ancient script.

It is typical to see Siddhaṃ written with a brush, as with Chinese writing; it is also written with a bamboo pen. In Japan, a special brush called a bokuhitsu (朴筆; Cantonese: pokbat) is used for formal Siddhaṃ calligraphy. The informal style is known as "fude" (筆; Cantonese: "moubat").

Siddhaṃ fonts

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 the Siddhaṃ conjunct consonants. Notably, the Chinese Buddhist Electronic Texts Association has created a Siddhaṃ font for their electronic version of the Taisho Tripiṭaka, though this does not contain all possible conjuncts. The software Mojikyo also contains fonts for Siddhaṃ, but split Siddhaṃ in different blocks and requires multiple fonts to render a single document.

A Siddhaṃ input system which relies on the CBETA font Siddhamkey 3.0 has been produced.

Unicode

Main article: Siddham (Unicode block)

Siddhaṃ script was added to the Unicode 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 1.^As of Unicode version 17.0 2.^Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

Gallery

Example Siddham script usage

• 
  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.
• 
  Siddhaṃ alphabet by Kūkai (774–835)
• 
  Chinese use of the Siddhaṃ script for the Pratisara mantra, from the Later Tang. 927 CE
• 
  Chinese use of the Siddhaṃ script for the Śūraṅgama Mantra. 971 CE
• 
  Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra written in katakana, Siddhaṃ script, and kanji. This book was published in 1773 in Japan.
• 
  Siddhaṃ Bijakshara A, Daishō-in, Miyajima
• 
  Mirror with bijaksharas, Miyajima
• 
  A stone inscription of the Buddhist Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī Sūtra at Asakusa Temple in Tokyo using Siddham script.
• 
  A Buddhist altar in Kawasaki, Japan showing a devotional mantra inscribed in Siddham to Shakyamuni Buddha with Japanese pronunciation guide

References

Sources

• Bonji Taikan (梵字大鑑). (Tōkyō: Meicho Fukyūkai, 1983)
• Chaudhuri, Saroj Kumar (1998). Siddham in China and Japan, Sino-Platonic papers No. 88
• "Sanskrit Version of Heart Sutra and Viyaya Dharani". e-Museum. National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties of National Museums, Japan.
• Stevens, John. Sacred Calligraphy of the East. (Boston, MA: Shambala, 1995.)
• Van Gulik, R.H. Siddham: An Essay on the History of Sanskrit Studies in China and Japan (New Delhi, Jayyed Press, 1981).
• Yamasaki, Taikō. Shingon: Japanese Esoteric Buddhism. (Fresno: Shingon Buddhist International Institute, 1988.)
• Chandra, Lokesh (1965) Sanskrit bījas and mantras in Japan, New Delhi , International Academy of Indian Culture, BQ5125.B5 A75 1965

External links

• Fonts:
  • Noto Sans Siddham from the Noto fonts project
  • Muktamsiddham—Free Unicode Siddham font
  • ApDevaSiddham—(Japanese) Free Unicode 8.0 Siddham Font (mirror)
• Siddham alphabet on Omniglot
• Examples of Siddham mantras Chinese language website.
• Visible Mantra an extensive collection of mantras and some sūtras in Siddhaṃ script
• Bonji Siddham Character and Pronunciation
• SiddhamKey Software for inputting Siddham characters