Devanagari letter dha

It is a voiced dental d released with a puff of breath.

The letter has a built-in a vowel; a vowel sign changes it, while a virama (also called halant) removes it when another consonant follows. Depending on the font, the cluster may join, use a half-form, or show the virama. English th is a different sound: air flows continuously, rather than stopping and releasing.

A Brahmi ancestor of dha appears in Ashokan inscriptions from the 3rd century BCE. The script developed through Gupta and Nagari stages; Devanagari emerged in the 7th century CE and matured around the 13th century CE. The letter occurs in Prakrit and Sanskrit records before vernacular writing.