Siddham Letter Ssa

It writes Sanskrit ṣ: s made with the tongue curled back.

Like other Siddham consonants, it normally carries an inherent a. A vowel sign changes that vowel; the virama cancels it.

Siddham is an Indian script developed from Gupta-era writing. Inscriptions called Siddhamātrikā or Kuṭila date from the sixth to about tenth century. From the eighth century it developed regionally into Śāradā in Kashmir and Punjab, Proto-Bengali or Gauḍī in Bengal and Odisha, and Nāgarī elsewhere in northern India from the tenth century.

What does 𑖬 mean in Buddhist writing?

It can spell Sanskrit or serve as a ritual seed syllable.

Siddham preserved Sanskrit in Buddhist manuscripts across China, Japan, and Korea. In Japan, Kūkai and Saichō brought Siddham learning in the early ninth century; Shingon and Tendai traditions preserved its use as bonji in mantras and mandalas. Chinese scholarly use weakened after the Northern Song as Buddhist practice became more localized.

A lone 𑖬 spells ṣa; identify a deity only from the surrounding mantra or ritual tradition.

How do I type 𑖬 without a Siddham keyboard?

Use a transliterator that supports Siddham.

The bonji-input scheme accepts ISO 15919/ASCII, IAST, and Harvard–Kyoto; enter .s for Sanskrit ṣ, while plain s maps a different sibilant.

As of 2026, Windows font support depends on an installed Siddham-capable font, and some apps fail to shape non-system fonts. If this appears as a box, check both the font and app support.