[INDOLOGY] deciphering a Tibetan mural

[Richard Salomon]

Dear Mark,

I don't think there's anything "pseudo-" about this inscription. It 
looks like script forms seen in old Sanskrit mss. from Nepal, and also 
resembles Pala-period scripts. A specialist in those areas (which I am 
not) should be able to confirm this and read it. (The last word is 
probably svaahaa.)

Rich

On 10/31/2015 12:11 PM, Mark McClish wrote:
> Dear friends,
>
> A colleague of mine who works in Indo-Tibetan art contacted me for 
> help deciphering some writing on a mural he’s studying. I include here 
> the information and image he provided:
>
> I wonder if I might trouble you to take a look at a detail of mural 
> depicting the learned 17th century Tibetan scholar Taranatha 
> (attached).  He is shown holding the stems of two lotuses, one lotus 
> bearing a sword, the other a text, the attributes of Manjushri.  The 
> detail I send you is of the text, which I fancy aims at depicting 
> Sanskrit (it is not Tibetan, either cursive or otherwise).  Is this 
> pseudo-Sanskrit (on par with pseudo-Kufic), or is it possible that it 
> is indeed readable Sanskrit?  Much obliged if you have a moment to 
> glance at it.
>
> I am not able to make sense of the writing, and this is far afield 
> from my areas of expertise. Thanks in advance for any help.
>
> Best,
> Mark
>
>
>
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-- 
----------------------

Richard Salomon
Department of Asian Languages and Literature
University of Washington, Box 353521
Seattle WA 98195-3521
USA



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