Unicode is a widely used international standard for encoding characters and symbols of almost all the scripts of the world. It is governed by a non-profit organization, the Unicode Consortium. See the Wikipedia article on Unicode for more information.

Unicode is the standard way to store Devanagari, and virtually every other script, in digital media. Devanagari is the traditional alphabet for writing Sanskrit and certain other Indian languages. Before Unicode became popular, roughly around 2000, there were many other schemes for storing Devanagari on computers. These schemes and the software that used them are now obsolete.

The Devanagari portion of Unicode has a code for each Devanagari letter, according to the traditional Panini conception of letter. Since Devanagari letters combine in a complex way not found in Western scripts, Unicode fonts that include Devanagari have information about combining simple characters into compound characters. Programs that use these fonts must be able to handle this information correctly.

Almost all modern software does this, but there are exceptions: InScript requires a plugin in both Windows and OS X to render Indic text, and MicroSoft Office for OS X does not render Indic text properly at all.

---

BabelMap  •  babelstone.co.uk/Software/BabelMap.html  •  Excellent software for anyone working with Unicode. Search for a character by name or code point. Display a range of characters in one font or all fonts combined. Construct a string of characters in an edit buffer and optionally convert to NCR or UCN. Search for fonts containing one character or a group of characters. Display Unicode history of a character. Many other features.

पवित्र pavitra as text pavitra as image

To the left is the Sanskrit word pavitra in Unicode Devanagari. On the top it is displayed as text, and on the bottom it is displayed as an image which shows how the top text should look. If the top text displays as question marks, small empty boxes, or small boxes containing tiny letters or numbers, then your operating system or browser has not been enabled to display Unicode Devanagari. If the top text displays as Devanagari but not as shown in the bottom box, then your operating system or browser can display Unicode Devanagari but does not have complex script support and thus cannot render it correctly. See the Wikipedia article on Indic language support for information on how to enable your operating system and browser to correctly display and type Unicode Devanagari and other Indic scripts.

ākāśa akasha as text akasha as image

To the left is the Sanskrit word akasha in IAST Romanization. On the top it is displayed as text, and on the bottom it is displayed as an image which shows how the top text should look. If any characters in the top text display as question marks, small empty boxes, or small boxes containing tiny letters or numbers, then your operating system does not have fonts containing diacritical characters for Romanized Indic, or your browser does not recognize these fonts. See the Wikipedia article on multilingual support for information on how to enable your operating system and browser to correctly display and type these characters. See this site’s Devanagari article for more information on technical details.

How to type a few Devanagari characters  •  In Windows, if you need to type in a small amount of Unicode text, most software supports the Alt-X method for entering a Unicode character: Type the hexadecimal code of the desired Unicode character, and then type Alt-X. For instance, to enter अ, type 0905 and then Alt-X. In OS X, a similar technique can be used by activating and selecting the Unicode Hex Input keyboard. See below for a chart of Devanagari Unicode characters and their hexadecimal codes.

---

Online Devanagari Editors  •  Online editors for creating Devanagari and romanized text, and converting between the two. They are button based and intended for a small amount of text.

---

AksharaPad  •  AksharaPad is a simple word processing program for typing Unicode Devanāgarī and IAST romanization with a Western keyboard.

---

Akshara Bridge  •  Akshara Bridge converts between several kinds of text that represent Devanāgarī and romanizations and cyrillizations of Devanāgarī, including Unicode and non-Unicode.

---

Itranslator 2003  •  omkarananda-ashram.org/Sanskrit/itranslator2003.htm  •  Free software for writing Devanagari with a Roman keyboard. Includes a high quality Unicode Devanagari font.

---

Praja font  •  A Unicode Devanagari font developed by Dr. Peter Freund. Designed for Sanskrit—may not be suitable for modern Indian languages.

VedaTeX  •  VedaTeX is a system for using the fonts of VedaPad (see below) with TeX. VedaTeX has special corrections for these fonts that improve the way these fonts display compared to other word processing software. Works properly on current operating systems. Designed for Sanskrit—may not be suitable for modern Indian languages.

VedaTeX is included in VedaPad and VedaType. It can be separately downloaded for free, but it requires the fonts in VedaPad or VedaType (see below).

Download VedaTeX verson 1.7  •  ZIP 1.7M

---

VedaPad  •  VedaPad is a system for typing non-Unicode Devanāgarī on Windows computers. Designed for Sanskrit—may not be suitable for modern Indian languages. Designed for older operating systems. Does not work completely properly on Windows 2000 or later.

Purchase VedaPad (for Windows) version 2.0 for $25

---

VedaType  •  VedaType is a system for typing non-Unicode Devanāgarī on Macintosh computers. Designed for Sanskrit—may not be suitable for modern Indian languages. Designed for older operating systems. Does not work completely properly on OS X.

Purchase VedaType (for Macintosh) version 2.0 for $25

---

Itranslator 99  •  omkarananda-ashram.org/Sanskrit/itranslator99.htm  •  Free software for writing Devanagari with a Roman keyboard. Includes a high quality non-Unicode Devanagari font. Designed for Sanskrit—may not be suitable for modern Indian languages. Designed for older operating systems. Does not work completely properly on Windows 2000 or later.

The following chart shows samples of Devanagari in some common fonts. Each sample shows the Devanagari characters and the numeric codes that Unicode uses to represent the characters. These codes are given in hexadecimal notation, as indicated by the “x” before the digits.

Default font
अ॒ग्निं ई॑ळे
Codes
x0905, x0952, x0917, x094D, x0928, x093F, x0902  —  x0908, x0551, x0933, x0947

Font name	Sample as text	Sample as image
Noto Sans Devanagari	अ॒ग्निं ई॑ळे
Noto Serif Devanagari	अ॒ग्निं ई॑ळे
Mangal	अ॒ग्निं ई॑ळे
Sanskrit 2003	अ॒ग्निं ई॑ळे
Siddhanta	अ॒ग्निं ई॑ळे
Uttara	अ॒ग्निं ई॑ळे
Nakula	अ॒ग्निं ई॑ळे
Sahadeva	अ॒ग्निं ई॑ळे

This chart shows the characters in the Devanagari Unicode standard, and their numeric character codes in hexadecimal. Devanagari characters are in several different Unicode character blocks:

• Devanagari, numeric codes x0900–x097F
• Vedic Extensions, numeric codes x1CD0–x1CFF
• Common Indic Number Forms, numeric codes xA830–xA83F
• Devanagari Extended, numeric codes xA8E0–xA8FF
• Devanagari Extended-A, numeric codes x11B00–x11B5F

The Devanagari Extended and Vedic Extensions blocks consist entirely of Vedic accent characters. The main Devanagari block contains a few Vedic accent characters.

_	x090_	x091_	x092_	x093_	x094_	x095_	x096_	x097_	x1CD_	x1CE_	x1CF_	xA83_	xA8E_	xA8F_	x11B0_
0	​ऀ x0900	ऐ x0910	ठ x0920	र x0930	​ी x0940	ॐ x0950	ॠ x0960	॰ x0970	​᳐ x1CD0	​᳠ x1CE0	ᳰ x1CF0	꠰ xA830	​꣠ xA8E0	​꣰ xA8F0	𑬀 x11B00
1	​ँ x0901	ऑ x0911	ड x0921	ऱ x0931	​ु x0941	​॑ x0951	ॡ x0961	ॱ x0971	​᳑ x1CD1	​᳡ x1CE1	ᳱ x1CF1	꠱ xA831	​꣡ xA8E1	​꣱ xA8F1	𑬁 x11B01
2	​ं x0902	ऒ x0912	ढ x0922	ल x0932	​ू x0942	​॒ x0952	​ॢ x0962	ॲ x0972	​᳒ x1CD2	​᳢ x1CE2	ᳲ x1CF2	꠲ xA832	​꣢ xA8E2	ꣲ xA8F2	𑬂 x11B02
3	​ः x0903	ओ x0913	ण x0923	ळ x0933	​ृ x0943	​॓ x0953	​ॣ x0963	ॳ x0973	​᳓ x1CD3	​᳣ x1CE3	​ᳳ x1CF3	꠳ xA833	​꣣ xA8E3	ꣳ xA8F3	𑬃 x11B03
4	ऄ x0904	औ x0914	त x0924	ऴ x0934	​ॄ x0944	​॔ x0954	। x0964	ॴ x0974	​᳔ x1CD4	​᳤ x1CE4	​᳴ x1CF4	꠴ xA834	​꣤ xA8E4	ꣴ xA8F4	𑬄 x11B04
5	अ x0905	क x0915	थ x0925	व x0935	​ॅ x0945	​ॕ x0955	॥ x0965	ॵ x0975	​᳕ x1CD5	​᳥ x1CE5	​ᳵ x1CF5	꠵ xA835	​꣥ xA8E5	ꣵ xA8F5	𑬅 x11B05
6	आ x0906	ख x0916	द x0926	श x0936	​ॆ x0946	ॶ x0976	० x0966	ॶ x0976	​᳖ x1CD6	​᳦ x1CE6	​ᳶ x1CF6	꠶ xA836	​꣦ xA8E6	ꣶ xA8F6	𑬆 x11B06
7	इ x0907	ग x0917	ध x0927	ष x0937	​े x0947	​ॗ x0957	१ x0967	ॷ x0977	​᳗ x1CD7	​᳧ x1CE7	​᳷ x1CF7	꠷ xA837	​꣧ xA8E7	ꣷ xA8F7	𑬇 x11B07
8	ई x0908	घ x0918	न x0928	स x0938	​ै x0948	क़ x0958	२ x0968	ॸ x0978	​᳘ x1CD8	​᳨ x1CE8	​᳸ x1CF8	꠸ xA838	​꣨ xA8E8	꣸ xA8F8	𑬈 x11B08
9	उ x0909	ङ x0919	ऩ x0929	ह x0939	​ॉ x0949	ख़ x0959	३ x0969	ॹ x0979	​᳙ x1CD9	ᳩ x1CE9	​᳹ x1CF9	꠹ xA839	​꣩ xA8E9	꣹ xA8F9	𑬉 x11B09
A	ऊ x090A	च x091A	प x092A	​ऺ x093A	​ॊ x094A	ग़ x095A	४ x096A	ॺ x097A	​᳚ x1CDA	ᳪ x1CEA	ᳺ x1CFA		​꣪ xA8EA	꣺ xA8FA
B	ऋ x090B	छ x091B	फ x092B	​ऻ x093B	​ो x094B	ज़ x095B	५ x096B	ॻ x097B	​᳛ x1CDB	ᳫ x1CEB			​꣫ xA8EB	ꣻ xA8FB
C	ऌ x090C	ज x091C	ब x092C	​़ x093C	​ौ x094C	ड़ x095C	६ x096C	ॼ x097C	​᳜ x1CDC	ᳬ x1CEC			​꣬ xA8EC	꣼ xA8FC
D	ऍ x090D	झ x091D	भ x092D	ऽ x093D	​् x094D	ढ़ x095D	७ x096D	ॽ x097D	​᳝ x1CDD	​᳭ x1CED			​꣭ xA8ED	​ꣽ xA8FD
E	ऎ x090E	ञ x091E	म x092E	​ा x093E	​ॎ x094E	फ़ x095E	८ x096E	ॾ x097E	​᳞ x1CDE	ᳮ x1CEE			​꣮ xA8EE	ꣾ xA8FE
F	ए x090F	ट x091F	य x092F	​ि x093F	​ॏ x094F	य़ x095F	९ x096F	ॿ x097F	​᳟ x1CDF	ᳯ x1CEF			​꣯ xA8EF	​ꣿ xA8FF

​‌ x200C

​‍ x200D

◌ x25CC

࿕ x0FD5

࿖ x0FD6

࿗ x0FD7

࿘ x0FD8

卐 x5350

卍 x534D

This chart shows characters used in Sanskrit, according to the traditional Panini sound scheme. Each block shows the character on top, IAST romanization in the middle, and the numeric character code in hexadecimal on the bottom.

Character IAST Code	Character IAST Code	Character IAST Code	Character IAST Code	Character IAST Code
अ a x0905	आ  ​ा ā x0906 x093E
इ  ​ि i x0907 x093F	ई  ​ी ī x0908 x0940
उ  ​ु u x0909 x0941	ऊ  ​ू ū x090A x0942
ऋ  ​ृ ṝ x090B x0943	ॠ  ​ॄ ṝ x0960 x0944
ऌ  ​ॢ ḷ x090C x0962	ॡ  ​ॣ ḹ x0961 x0963
ए  ​े e x090F x0947	ऐ  ​ै ai x0910 x0948
ओ  ​ो o x0913 x094B	औ  ​ौ au x0914 x094C
​ं ṃ x0902	​ँ ṃ x0901	​ः ḥ x0903	ऽ ' x093D
क ka x0915	ख kha x0916	ग ga x0917	घ gha x0918	ङ ṅa x0919
च ca x091A	छ cha x091B	ज ja x091C	झ jha x091D	ञ ña x091E
ट ṭa x091F	ठ ṭha x0920	ड ḍa x0921	ढ ḍha x0922	ण ṇa x0923
त ta x0924	थ tha x0925	द da x0926	ध dha x0927	न na x0928
प pa x092A	फ pha x092B	ब ba x092C	भ bha x092D	म ma x092E
य ya x092F	र ra x0930	ल la x0932	व va x0935
श śa x0936	ष ṣa x0937	स sa x0938	ह ha x0939
ॐ oṁ x0950	ळ ḻa x0933	​् x094D
। | x0964	॥ || x0965	॒ x0952	॑ x0951
१ 1 x0967	२ 2 x0968	३ 3 x0969	४ 4 x096A	५ 5 x096B
६ 6 x096C	७ 7 x096D	८ 8 x096E	९ 9 x096F	० 0 x0966

This chart supplements the above chart by showing additional characters used in modern Indian languages. Each block shows the character on top, IAST romanization in the middle, and the numeric character code in hexadecimal on the bottom.

Character IAST Code	Character IAST Code	Character IAST Code	Character IAST Code	Character IAST Code
ऍ  ​ॅ   x090D x0945	ऎ  ​ॆ   x090E x0946	ऑ  ​ॉ   x0911 x0949	ऒ  ​ॊ   x0912 x094A	ऄ   x0904
क़ qa x0958	ख़ k͟ha x0959	ग़ ġa x095A	ज़ za x095B	झ़ zha x091D x093C
ड़ ṛa x095C	ढ़ ṛha x095D	ऩ na x0929	फ़ fa x095E	य़ ya x095F
ऱ ra x0931	ऴ ḻa x0934
​़   x093C	​॓   x0953	​॔   x0954	॰ . x0970

This chart shows characters used in IAST Romanization of Devanagari. These characters are in three different Unicode character blocks:

• Latin-1 Supplement, numeric codes x0080–x00FF
• Latin Extended-A, numeric codes x0100–x017F
• Latin Extended Additional, numeric codes x1E00–x1EFF

Uppercase IAST Character	Lowercase IAST Character	Uppercase IAST Code	Lowercase IAST Code
Ā	ā	x0100	x0101
Ī	ī	x012A	x012B
Ū	ū	x016A	x016B
Ṛ	ṛ	x1E5A	x1E5B
Ṝ	ṝ	x1E5C	x1E5D
Ḷ	ḷ	x1E36	x1E37
Ṃ	ṃ	x1E42	x1E43
Ṁ	ṁ	x1E40	x1E41
Ḥ	ḥ	x1E24	x1E25
Ṅ	ṅ	x1E44	x1E45
Ñ	ñ	x00D1	x00F1
Ṭ	ṭ	x1E6C	x1E6D
Ḍ	ḍ	x1E0C	x1E0D
Ṇ	ṇ	x1E46	x1E47
Ś	ś	x015A	x015B
Ṣ	ṣ	x1E62	x1E63
Ḻ	ḻ	x1E3A	x1E3B

In Devanagari Unicode, each vowel except a has two character codes, one for the initial letter and one for the vowel symbol that modifies a consonant. Each consonant includes an implicit a. To modify the vowel of a consonant, add the non-initial vowel code after the consonant code or codes, including short i.

Use the halānta (x094D) between consonant codes to form compound consonants. Without an intervening halāta, consecutive consonant codes indicate separate syllables. If there is a modifying vowel for a compound consonant, use it after all the consonants, including short i. If there is a vowel modifier, such as an anusvara, in addition to a modifying vowel, then use the vowel first and then the vowel modifier. Vedic accents should be placed at the end of a syllable.

The zero width joiner character (x200D) after a halānta that is between consonants indicates a that the compound consonant should be formed using a half letter, if available, instead of a ligature. In the same situation, the zero width non-joiner character (x200C) indicates that a halānta should be used, rather than a half-letter or ligature.

Use the zero width space character (x200B) before a vowel mark, halānta, or other character that normally is used only in combination with other characters to indicate the combining character in isolation. Browsers normally render a zero width space before a combining character as a dotted circle to indicate the omitted leading character.

Examples:

क

कु

कुं

कि

किं

किं॒

किं॑

रक

र्क

र्कि

र्किं

कष

क्ष

क्‍ष

क्‌ष

​ु

​ि

x0915

x0915 x0941

x0915 x0941 x0902

x0915 x093F

x0915 x093F x0902

x0915 x093F x0902 x0952

x0915 x093F x0902 x0951

x0930 x0915

x0930 x094D x0915

x0930 x094D x0915 x093F

x0930 x094D x0915 x093F x0902

x0915 x0937

x0915 x094D x0937

x0915 x094D x200D x0937

x0915 x094D x200C x0937

x200B x0941

x200B x093F

These files are published by the Unicode Consortium and are the official reference for encoding Devanagari in Unicode.

• Character code chart for Devanagari  •  unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0900.pdf
• Character code chart for Vedic Extensions  •  unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1CD0.pdf
• Character code chart for Common Indic Number Forms  •  unicode.org/charts/PDF/UA830.pdf
• Character code chart for Devanagari Extended  •  unicode.org/charts/PDF/UA8E0.pdf
• About the Unicode standard describes the current version of the standard.  •  unicode.org/standard/standard.html

Devanagari developed from the Brahmi script, the oldest extant script in India. Numerous other scripts also developed from Brahmi and are now or were once used to write the native languages of a large portion of Asia. A glance at the list of scripts supported by Unicode shows this. All of Central Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and several of the East Asian scripts on this list—about half of the total number of scripts supported by Unicode—are related to Brahmi, either closely or distantly.

Several of the scripts of South and Southeast Asia are currently used to write Sanskrit. This site includes the Bhagavad Gita written in these scripts.