[INDOLOGY] Question about Nepalese manuscripts

[Matthew Kapstein]

Sam Grimes writes: “Rañjanā is a strictly calligraphic script, and has never been used to record texts in handwritten manuscripts.”

Unless I am somehow missing his point, this seems to me not to be correct. I have seen complete manuscripts of the PañcarakSa and of the ASTasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā written in Rañjana, for example.

Matthew Kapstein
EPHE, Paris

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On Sat, Dec 7, 2024 at 23:59, Samuel Grimes via INDOLOGY <[indology at list.indology.info](mailto:On Sat, Dec 7, 2024 at 23:59, Samuel Grimes via INDOLOGY <<a href=)> wrote:

> Harry,
> To reiterate Charles' reply: there are a variety of nepālākṣara types. Pracalit is most commonly used in the modern period, and nearly all paper manuscripts were written in Pracalit. This is a simple, unadorned script, that strongly resembles modern devanāragarī.
>
> From roughly 1250 to the early modern period (~1700) Bhujimol is used. Its telltale sign is that the vowel "e" following a consonant is marked with a squiggle or flourish that resembles a winged creature (i.e. bhujimol=fly wings). Bhujimol is most commonly on palm leaf manuscripts. A version of Bhujimol may also be found on many bilingual manuscripts produced in Tibet, with Sanskrit in the bhujimol approximate, and the Tibetan translation in a Tibetic script.
>
> Prior to the use of Bhujimol, and alongside it until about 1350, a script was used in Nepal that strongly resembles the East Indic script of medieval Bengal and Bihar. This script does not have an official name, and could be labelled "Nepalese," with qualification. It does not have the telltale fly wings of bhujimol, instead marking "e" following a consonant, a curved line resembling a parenthesis ( is placed in front of the consonant, For example, te is (त. After a point, all bhujimol manuscripts are a hybrid with this script, the vowel e optionally marked with a squiggle or with a ( .
>
> Rañjanā is a strictly calligraphic script, and has never been used to record texts in handwritten manuscripts. It appears in manuscripts when an ornate script is called for (e.g. titles, mantras, names of deities drawn in the manuscript) and is frequently found on metal and art works in Nepal and beyond (e.g. Tibet, China).
>
> There is currently a strong movement among Newar youth, spread through social media outlets, to learn and preserve all these scripts, but rañjanā in particular.
>
> Hope that helps, and does not confuse.
> Sam Grimes
>
> On Sat, Dec 7, 2024 at 5:25 PM Harry Spier via INDOLOGY < indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
>> Thank you Charles,
>> You wrote:
>>
>>> There are a good number of Nepalese scripts that have been used throughout the centuries, so Nepālākṣarā can mean any one of them like Rañjana, Bhujimol, etc. The most commonly used one in the past few centuries is Pracalit, which is indeed sometimes called Newari Script, but I suppose all the others might also be called as such by some. Yes, like all Brāhmī derived scripts, Nepalese scripts are generally written without the breaks between words that one finds in Roman script, for example.
>>
>> Based on your comment " so Nepālākṣarā can mean any one of them "  I'm surprised that the Cambridge university catalogue entries for some NGMCP manuscripts lists the script only as .Nepālākṣarā,
>> See links below. Two manuscripts from 19th century and one from 14-15th century.
>> See:
>> https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-ADD-01386/1
>> https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-ADD-01164-00002/1
>> https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-ADD-02248/1
>> Thanks,
>> Harry Spier
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