Grantha Letter Vocalic R

It writes the r-like vowel as a full letter in its own right. The usual Latin transliteration is ṛ, an r with a dot below. This independent form stands alone; the dependent sign 𑍃 is used after a consonant.

Grantha descends from Brahmi, an early South Asian writing system. Intermediate forms appear in inscriptions of the Pallavas, rulers in southern India, from the fourth century CE; the modern form represented here dates to after the thirteenth century CE. Classical Tamil manuscripts sometimes mix Grantha and Tamil, including commentaries and Manipravalam, a mixed Tamil–Sanskrit literary language. Early print editions obscured some of those script mixtures. A blank glyph usually means the font lacks Grantha coverage.