Dear Colleagues,

I’d like to ask a question, maybe silly.

I am reading just now an excerpt from the introduction by Anujan Achan in his critical edition of Bhagavadajjukīyaprahasana: “ …I owe perhaps a word of explanation with regards the peculiar way of writing Prakrit in the Malabar MSS. While, for instance, the Prakrit form of ārya is usually written as ayya or ajja, our MSS. mostly write a◦a, with a circle in the middle. They similarly write e◦va, e◦ka…, with a circle, which obviously indicates that the letter that immediately follows it is to be reduplicated…”.  The point is: is this tendency confined only to Malabar area, or is it to be found in other scriptural realities also? 

In case, forgive my little experience in Prakrit portions of South Indian mss.

Thanking in advance, my kindest regards,