Grantha letter ḍha

It represents a voiced, breathy ḍha sound made with the tongue tip curled back.

Make the sound with the tongue tip curled back: it is a d-like stop made with voice and released with breath. Like other Grantha consonants, 𑌢 carries an inherent “a”; a vowel sign replaces it, while virama, a mark that removes the vowel, cancels it. In a cluster, the consonant can be read without that vowel.

Grantha developed in South India to write Sanskrit, including sounds the Tamil writing system did not have separate letters for. It grew from Brahmi, an older Indian script, through Pallava writing traditions; early Pallava inscriptions (engraved records) with forms leading to Grantha date to the fourth century CE. The modern form represented here belongs to after the thirteenth century CE. Grantha later appeared alongside Tamil in Sanskrit words and Manipravalam, a literary blend of Tamil and Sanskrit. As of 2026, its living use centers on Sanskrit and Vedic practice; Manipravalam is rare.

How do I type and read 𑌢 in a word?

On a transliteration keyboard, choose Ḍha for this consonant.

A Grantha consonant cluster may join letters into a ligature (a joined form) or stack them vertically; a long cluster can split across stacks. Font shaping changes the display, not the underlying letter. Transliteration layouts distinguish Ḍha from plain dha.