Science and Art of Calligraphy and Painting

Author(s): S Andhare
Publisher: Indian National Science Academy

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3. Origin of Jain Nagri script :
A large number of Buddhist palm leaf Mss. were produced during the Pala and Sena period (C. 11th-13th centuries) for propagation of the Buddhist faith. Calligraphically these Mss. are of great artistic and aesthetic beauty. The script used in these Mss. is known as Siddhamatrika (perfect measure) or Kutila (crooked) because of its marked twist at the bottom of each vertical stroke of each character ending in finest of points. At its best the characters proceed with measured and even tread across the leaf, the heavy horizontal and vertical strokes being balanced by the lighter curves between the characteristic portions, of the letter, by the sublinear twist and by flourishes of vowel indicators above the line, mostly marked above the top line. This script was already archaic in the 11th century. However the Buddhist Mss. from Nepal tend to use the early Nagri script to much lighter effect, though some use the Siddhamatrika also.
However, from the 15th cent, in Nepal, there seems an archaic revival of the Kutila, called Ranjana, using gold ink on blue-black paper. Although it produced an opulant effect, it is somewhat complex and of no great calligraphic beauty. The subjects written in this script are of very limited range and copied for pious purposes of donation to monasteries, where they remained wrapped and unread and only brought out on the day of the Pustakpuja.