Kawi Filled Circle

It is a Kawi punctuation mark for organizing text. Kawi writing uses marks to divide or arrange passages, and this filled form has no universal word-for-word equivalent. Read its role from its place in the source; a modern period or bullet is not an exact substitute.

Examples are documented in the Kakurungan inscription by the 10th century; the Sobhāmṛta evidence includes a charter copy from 939 CE. Later West Javanese Gebang manuscripts show related punctuation in other hands and materials. Computer encoding records a historical mark; it did not create it.

Why does the filled circle vary in manuscripts?

Its interior varies with the scribe and material. One Kakurungan example has a single dot; Sobhāmṛta has two opposing curves; an Old Sundanese Gebang manuscript adds inked fields; Serat Catur Bumi renders it as a square crossed by lines. This range makes “circle with dot” an incomplete description. Manuscripts can still distinguish the filled form from the open-circle punctuation.

Kawi punctuation includes section marks, flower and spiral marks, circles, dots, and danda, a vertical punctuation stroke. Neighboring marks and sequences can signal breaks or opening and closing structures. Kawi grew from Pallava, a South Indian script descended from Brahmi, and later developed into Javanese and Balinese writing traditions. Some Kawi section and spiral signs are compared with opening signs in Siddham, another script; that comparison does not identify this filled circle as a Siddham sign.