What ൯ means
It stands for nine.
Traditional Malayalam numerals used separate signs for units, 10, 100, and 1,000. Malayalam inscriptions show the system before AD 1000, though ൯'s first appearance remains undated. Comparative histories connect Malayalam and Tamil numeral forms to Grantha, a historical South Indian script. Use continued until the mid-nineteenth century, when place-value notation with zero was introduced. As of 2026, the traditional set is archaic in modern Malayalam texts.
Don't confuse it with
1Questions people ask
1Why does ൯ show as a box on some devices?
Because that device's fonts have no glyph for it. The character is still correct and still copies correctly — the box is a missing glyph, not a broken character.
How to type ൯
Windows (Word)
Alt+XType 0D6F, then Alt+X to get ൯.
Windows
Win+Rrun charmap for the full table, or use the emoji picker's Ω symbols tab (Win + .).
macOS
Control+Command+SpaceOpen the character viewer and search “malayalam digit nine”.
Linux
Ctrl+Shift+UType 0d6f, then Enter or Space.
HTML
൯CSS
\0D6FKeyman Malayalam InScript
Select Keyman's Malayalam InScript layout, then press 9 to enter ൯.
Codes and encoding1 code points
HTML decimal
൯
HTML hex
൯
CSS content
content: "\0D6F";
Each escape is closed by the next backslash; a trailing space is needed before a literal hex digit.
URL encoded
%E0%B5%AF
1
On screen
1
Code points
1
JS .length
3
UTF-8 bytes
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.