Siddham Sign Anusvara

The Siddham anusvara marks nasalization on the syllable it follows. In Sanskrit, it can represent a nasal consonant before another consonant; the following sound shapes its pronunciation.

Siddham is an evolving Brahmi-based script from northern India; Brahmi is an ancient Indian writing tradition. Its northern Indian forms are documented from the sixth through tenth centuries. Siddham was used for Sanskrit across Central and East Asia, especially in Buddhist manuscripts in China, Japan, and Korea. A Sanskrit manuscript written on palm leaves and kept at Hōryū-ji temple in Japan was brought from China in 609; it is a surviving witness, not a date for the mark’s invention.

Siddham was also used to write Buddhist mantras, longer ritual formulas called dharanis, and seed syllables—short sacred syllables. The script is most closely related to Sharada, another Brahmi-based script from Kashmir.

Why does 𑖽 show a dotted circle?

The circle is a font placeholder, not part of 𑖽. This mark attaches to a Siddham letter or syllable, so an isolated sample may show a dotted circle at the attachment point. The circle is not encoded as part of the character. A font without Siddham support may render the sign oddly or leave it invisible; a Siddham-capable font helps distinguish a missing-font problem from the character itself.