Tirhuta Om

It is the Tirhuta spelling of the sacred syllable Om. Om is used in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain traditions, but its role depends on the practice. The Vedas, early Hindu sacred texts, describe several ritual uses; later Hindu traditions also use Om in meditation. The sign alone does not identify a particular prayer or belief.

Tirhuta grew from Gauḍī (also called Proto-Bengali), part of the older Brahmi family of Indian writing systems, through the Kuṭila branch by the 10th century. It was distinct from related Bengali, Newari, and Odia scripts by the 14th century. The earliest Tirhuta records cited are temple inscriptions in Bihar and Nepal from the 13th century.

Tirhuta carried Maithili and Sanskrit scholarly and religious writing from the 14th century. Devanagari replaced it as the main way to write Maithili in the 20th century. A Hindi–Maithili dictionary published in 2023 notes that some traditional Mithila families still use Mithilakshar for wedding and upanayana invitations. Upanayana is a Hindu sacred-thread ceremony.

Is Tirhuta Om the same as ॐ?

No; they write the same syllable in different scripts. Devanagari ॐ is not a decorative font version of Tirhuta Om. Bengali writes Om as ওঁ: the Bengali letter O followed by candrabindu, a mark that indicates nasalization. Choose the form that matches the script of the text you are writing.