Editing Grantha script (section)

{{Short description|South Indian script}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox Writing system
| name        = Grantha script
| altname     = {{Script|Gran|𑌗𑍍𑌰𑌨𑍍𑌥}}
| type        = [[Abugida]]
| languages   = [[Tamil language|Tamil]] and [[Sanskrit Language|Sanskrit]]
| time        = 7th century CE – present (excluding [[Pallava script|Pallava Grantha]])
| fam1        = [[Egyptian hieroglyphs|Egyptian]]
| fam2        = [[Proto-Sinaitic]]
| fam3        = [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician]]
| fam4        = [[Aramaic alphabet|Aramaic]]
| fam5        = [[Brahmi script|Brahmi]]
| fam6        = [[Tamil-Brahmi]]
| fam7        = [[Pallava script|Pallava]]
| sisters     = [[Tamil script|Tamil]], [[Old Mon script|Old Mon]], [[Khmer script|Khmer]], [[Cham script|Cham]], [[Kawi script|Kawi]]
| children    = [[Malayalam script|Malayalam]]<br/>[[Tigalari script|Tigalari]]<br />[[Thirke]]<br />[[Saurashtra script|Saurashtra]]<br/>[[Dhives Akuru]]
| sample      = File:Shukla Grantha.svg
| imagesize   = 200px
| caption     = The word 'Grantha' in modern Grantha typeface
| iso15924    = Gran
| unicode     = [https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U11300.pdf U+11300–U+1137F]
| note        = none
}}
{{brahmic}}
The '''Grantha script''' ({{Langx|sa|𑌗𑍍𑌰𑌨𑍍𑌥𑌲𑌿𑌪𑌿|granthalipi}}; {{langx|ta|கிரந்த எழுத்து|Granta eḻuttu}}; {{langx|ml|ഗ്രന്ഥലിപി|granthalipi}}) is a classical [[South India]]n [[Brahmic script]], found particularly in [[Tamil Nadu]] and [[Kerala]]. Originating from the [[Pallava script]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mirza |first1=Amna |last2=Gottardo |first2=Alexandra |title=Handbook of Literacy in Akshara Orthography |date=2019 |publisher=Springer International Publishing |isbn=978-3-030-05977-4|pages=329–351 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-05977-4_17 |access-date=22 July 2024 |language=en |chapter=Learning to Read in Their Heritage Language: Hindi-English Speaking Children Reading Two Different Orthographies|doi=10.1007/978-3-030-05977-4_17 }}</ref> the Grantha script is related to [[Tamil script|Tamil]] and [[Vatteluttu]] scripts. The modern [[Malayalam script]] of Kerala is a direct descendant of the Grantha script.<ref name="salomon1998">{{cite book|author=Richard Salomon|title=Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the other Indo-Aryan Languages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XYrG07qQDxkC|year=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-535666-3|pages=40–42}}</ref> The Southeast Asian and Indonesian scripts such as [[Thai script|Thai]] and [[Javanese script|Javanese]] respectively, as well as South Asian and Sri Lankan scripts such as [[Tigalari script|Tigalari]]<ref name="omniglot">{{cite web |title=Grantha alphabet for Sanskrit |url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/grantha.htm |website=www.omniglot.com |access-date=22 July 2024}}</ref> and [[Sinhala script|Sinhalese script]]s respectively, are derived or closely related to Grantha through the early Pallava script.<ref name="Casparis1975p12">{{cite book|author=J. G. de Casparis|title=Indonesian Palaeography: A History of Writing in Indonesia from the Beginnings to C. A.D. 1500|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cLUfAAAAIAAJ |year=1975|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=90-04-04172-9|pages=12–17}}</ref><ref name="HerbertMilner1989">{{cite book|author1=Patricia Herbert|author2=Anthony Crothers Milner|title=South-East Asia: Languages and Literatures : a Select Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-EqbeRzdDrsC&pg=PA127|year=1989|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-0-8248-1267-6|pages=127–129}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Pierre-Yves Manguin|author2=A. Mani|author3=Geoff Wade|title=Early Interactions Between South and Southeast Asia: Reflections on Cross-cultural Exchange|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FuCYBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA306|year=2011|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies|isbn=978-981-4311-16-8|pages=283–285, 306–309}}</ref> The Pallava script or Pallava Grantha emerged in the 4th century CE and was used until the 7th century CE, in India.<ref name="griffiths">{{Cite book |last=Arlo |first=Guy |editor-first=john|editor-last=guy|author-link=Griffiths |url=https://www.academia.edu/6301451 |title=Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early South east Asia |date=2014 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |isbn=9781588395245 |chapter=Early Indic Inscriptions of Southeast Asia |access-date=22 July 2024}}</ref><ref name="diringer">{{cite book |last1=Diringer |first1=David |title=Alphabet a key to the history of mankind |date=1948 |page=411 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.1287}}</ref> This early Grantha script was used to write [[Sanskrit]] texts, inscriptions on copper plates and stones of Hindu temples and monasteries.<ref name=britgrantha/><ref name="salomon1998"/> It was also used for classical [[Manipravalam]] – a language that is a blend of Sanskrit and Tamil.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Giovanni Ciotti|author2=Hang Lin|title=Tracing Manuscripts in Time and Space through Paratexts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-ezCDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA62|year=2016|publisher=Walter De Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-047901-0|pages=62–63}}</ref> From it evolved Middle Grantha by the 7th century, and Transitional Grantha by about the 8th century, which remained in use until about the 14th century. Modern Grantha has been in use since the 14th century and into the modern era, to write classical texts in Sanskrit and Dravidian languages.<ref name=britgrantha/><ref name="salomon1998"/> It is also used to chant hymns{{Clarify|reason=How do you use a script to chant?|date=October 2020}} and in traditional Vedic schools.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC|title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century|last=Singh|first=Upinder|date=2008-01-01|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=9788131711200|language=en}}</ref>

The Tamil purist movement of the colonial era sought to purge the Grantha script from use and use the Tamil script exclusively. According to Kailasapathy, this was a part of Tamil nationalism and amounted to regional ethnic chauvinism.<ref>K. Kailasapathy (1979), [https://www.jstor.org/pss/3516775 The Tamil Purist Movement: A Re-evaluation], Social Scientist, Vol. 7, No. 10, pp. 23-27</ref>