Editing Ranjana script (section)

==Use==
<gallery>
File:Shukla Ranjana Om.svg|<div align =""center">'Om' in Ranjana script</div>
File:Jing An Temple Stone Sanskrit Om.jpeg|<div align ="center">Rañjanā "Oṃ" syllables flanking the implements of the [[Four Heavenly Kings]]. [[Jing'an Temple]], [[Shanghai]], China.</div>
File:Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita Maitreya Folio.jpeg|<div align ="center">Sanskrit manuscript in the Rañjanā script. ''[[Prajnaparamita|Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra]]'', India, 12th century.</div>
File:Maru tol street sign.jpg|<div align ="center">Street sign in Kathmandu in Ranjana, Devanagari and English.</div>
File:Tianjin Temple Sanskrit Ranjana Script.jpeg|<div align ="center">Mantra in Rañjanā script, on the ceiling of a Buddhist temple in [[Tianjin]], [[People's Republic of China|China]].</div>
</gallery>

=== Use in Nepal ===
Rañjana is mostly used for printing Hindu and Buddhist scriptures and literature in Sanskrit and Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit used by the [[Newar]] community. Rañjana is also in current use for printing "high status" documents (wedding invitations, certificates, etc) in Nepal in the Newar language and for Newar language book titles.<ref name="Proposal-2009">{{Cite web|url=https://unicode.org/wg2/docs/n3649.pdf|title=Preliminary proposal for encoding the Rañjana script in the SMP of the UCS|author=[[Michael Everson]]|date=May 4, 2009|id=n3649}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://pnclink.org/annual/annual2000/2000pdf/6-4-2.pdf|title=Preservation of Sanskrit Buddhist Manuscripts in the Kathmandu Valley: Its importance and future|author=Min Bahadur Shakya}}</ref> In Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhist traditions, it is famously used to write various [[mantra]]s including the "[[Om mani padme hum]]" mantra of [[Avalokiteśvara]], the mantra of [[Tara (Buddhism)|Tara]]: "Om tare tuttare ture svaha", and the mantra of [[Manjusri]]: "Om a ra pa ca na dhi."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.teachingsofthebuddha.com/om_mani_padme_hum.htm|title=Teachings of the Buddha}}{{Sps|date=May 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dharma-haven.org/tibetan/meaning-of-om-mani-padme-hung.htm|title=Dharma Haven}}{{Sps|date=May 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080312205010/http://www.geocities.com/ranjanafont/introduction.htm|title=Ranjana font}}{{Sps|date=May 2017}}</ref> The script is also used in Hindu scriptures.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.asianart.com/exhibitions/svision/i49.html|title=Asian art}}</ref>

=== Use in East Asia ===
In [[Chinese Buddhism]] and other East Asian Buddhism, the standard Sanskrit script for mantras and [[dhāraṇī]]s was not the Rañjanā script, but rather the earlier [[Siddhaṃ script]] that was widely propagated in China during the [[Tang dynasty]].<ref name="Chattopadhayaya, Alaka 1999 p. 201">Chattopadhayaya, Alaka (1999). ''Atisa and Tibet: Life and Works of Dipamkara Srijnana'': p. 201</ref> However, in [[History of China#Imperial China|late Imperial China]], the influence of [[Tibetan Buddhism]] popularized the Rañjanā script as well, and so this script is also found throughout East Asia, but is not as common as Siddhaṃ.<ref>Jiang, Wu (2008). Enlightenment in Dispute: The Reinvention of Chan Buddhism in Seventeenth-Century China: p. 146</ref> In Vietnam, Rañjanā script is often used during Buddhist rituals especially by monks in the central region such as Huế. [[Talisman|Talismans]] are often made using Rañjanā mantras read "Om mani padme hum" or "Om cale cule cundi svaha"  the mantra of [[Cundi (Buddhism)|Cundi Bodhisattva]]. The script has also been adopted by [[Vietnamese folk religion|Vietnamese folk shamans]] in their use of amulets such as Lỗ Ban phái, a Taoist folk sect that arrived from China named after [[Lu Ban]], patron god of carpenters.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ma Phương :: Tinh Hoa Đông Phương|url=https://maphuong.com/Print_article/print_page/311|access-date=2021-08-24|website=maphuong.com}}</ref>

=== Use in Tibet ===
{{Anchor|Tibetan}}
When Rañjanā was introduced to Tibet, it was referred to as ''Lantsa'' ({{bo|t=ལཉྫ་}}), which is simply a Tibetan transcription of the Sanskrit word {{langx|sa|लञ्ज }} or ''Lañja'' (which means 'tail' or 'foot').<ref>{{cite web |url=https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/lany+dza |title= lany+dza|date= |website=Dharma Dictionary |publisher=Tsadra Foundation|access-date=2022-03-19  }} </ref> Lantsa varies somewhat from the standard Rañjanā as written in Nepal today. In particular the glyph shapes of some consonants and ligatures differs and vowel diacritics do not usually change with the consonants  ख kha, ग ga, n ञ nya, ठ ṭha ण ṇa, ध dha  श sha ''as described above''~ with the sole exception of the letter ठ ṭha. The shape of the numerals or digits also differs.  

In Tibet, the Lantsa variant is used to write Buddhist texts in Sanskrit.<ref>[http://www.omniglot.com/writing/ranjana.htm Ranjana script and Nepal Bhasa (Newari) language]</ref> Examples of such texts include the ''[[Mañjuśrīnāmasamgīti]]'', the ''[[Diamond Sutra]]'' and the ''Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra''. The Lantsa script is also found in manuscripts and printed editions of some Sanskrit-Tibetan lexicons such as the ''[[Mahāvyutpatti]]''. and it  is frequently used on the title pages of Tibetan texts, where the Sanskrit title is often written in Lantsa, followed by a transliteration and translation in the Tibetan script. The script is also used to prepare [[Mantra]] and  [[Dharani]] inserted into Buddhist images and [[Stupa]] for consecration, as well as in the drawing of certain mandalas ( similar to the Japanese use of the [[Siddhaṃ script]]). 

Lantsa is frequently seen on  the outside of [[Prayer wheel|prayer wheels]], and decoratively on the gateways, walls. beams and pillars of Tibetan temples and monasteries.

Numerous alternative spellings of the term ''Lantsa'' exist, including the following:
* Lanja
* Landzha
* Lantsha
* Lentsa
* Lendza