Identifying Grantha Characters: Manuscript vs. Typography

A comparison of Grantha script characters in manuscripts compared to modern typographic representations, using Śiścepālavadhaha Vyākhyāsahitā from EFEO's archive (EO-1367).

Note: This is not an exhaustive list of all the characters, but rather a selection of characters that I found extremely difficult to identify. I hope this can be a useful reference for others who are interested in reading Grantha, and also a starting point for further exploration of the visual diversity of Grantha script.

Vowels

Character Manuscript Form Notes
𑌏
E
e
Manuscript form of e

Manuscript
In the manuscript, it can be confused with the character 𑌣(ṇ/ɳ)
𑌉
U
u
Manuscript form of u

Manuscript
This looked very similar to the printed '𑌮' (ma) and confused me for a long time.
𑌊
Ū
ū
Manuscript form of ū

Manuscript
They are separated by space when written by hand.
𑌋
Manuscript form of ṛ

Manuscript
Similar to 𑌇, 𑌙, and 𑌨𑍍𑌧 visually.

Consonants

Character Manuscript Form Notes
𑌖
Kha
kha
Manuscript form of kha

Manuscript
This character looks very different but it follows the same stroke pattern.
𑌦
Da
da
Manuscript form of da

Manuscript
Subject to further verification.
𑌰𑍂
Manuscript form of ru

Manuscript
The 'rū' consonant-vowel in the manuscript form contains a loop to represent the vowel ū.
𑌭
Bha
bha
Manuscript form of bha

Manuscript
The ending stroke in the manuscript form is much more vertical.
𑌗𑍁
Gu
gu
Manuscript form of gu

Manuscript
Looks like a random scribble.
𑌪𑍁
Pu
pu
Manuscript form of pu

Manuscript
Smaller loop under the consonant than in 𑌪𑍍𑌰
𑌪𑍂
Manuscript form of pū

Manuscript
The attachment of the ū vowel marker helps detect it in other characters too.
𑌝
Jha
jha
Manuscript form of jha

Manuscript
This is also one of the characters that I found difficult to identify, but it is a bit obvious in retrospect. The strokes are not as straight as in the typographic form. For some time I thought this was 𑌨𑍍𑌧 (ndh; this character is listed below).
𑌯𑍁
Yu
yu
Manuscript form of yu

Manuscript
The u vowel marker is attached the same way as in 𑌪𑍁
𑌳𑌿
Ḷi
ḷi
Manuscript form of ḷi

Manuscript
This character seems like a conjunct at first because how the vowel marker crosses the baseline. Thanks to reddit user u/ksharanam for the helpful discussion regarding this character.

Conjunct Consonants

Character Manuscript Form Notes
𑌗𑍍𑌨𑌿
Gni
gni
Manuscript form of gni

Manuscript
Subject to further verification
𑌞𑍍𑌚
Ñc
ñc
Manuscript form of ñc

Manuscript
Subject to further verification
𑌪𑍍𑌰
Pra
pra
Manuscript form of pra

Manuscript
The 'ra' part is more looped than in the typographic form.
𑌦𑍍𑌯
dya
dya
Manuscript form of dya

Manuscript
This one is a bit tricky to identify. But given the characters around it, this is the only glyph that makes a meaningful word.
𑌦𑍍𑌵
dwa
dva
Manuscript form of dwa

Manuscript
In hindsight, this is an obvious identification, but this was one of the hardest graphemes to identify since it looks very similar to 𑌞𑍍𑌚, and can be places in similar 'bridge glyph' role.
𑌜𑍍𑌞
Jña
jña
Manuscript form of jna

Manuscript
I mistook this for 𑌜𑍍𑌰 (jra) for a long time, but upon detailed inspection, this was an obvious one.
𑌷𑍍𑌠
STh
STh
Manuscript form of STh

Manuscript
Just looks odd. could be two 𑌮's (ma's)
𑌶𑍍𑌰𑍀
sri
śrī
Manuscript form of sri

Manuscript
This one looks pretty in the typeface.
𑌰𑍍𑌯
rya
rya
Manuscript form of rya

Manuscript
I thought this was 𑌯𑍍𑌯 (yya) or 𑌧𑍍𑌯 (dhya) but they did not make meaningful words.
𑌰𑍍𑌤𑍍𑌥
Rttha
rttha
Manuscript form of rttha

Manuscript
The small upward stroke at the end of the loop in 𑌤𑍍𑌥 is the only differentiator.
𑌚𑍍𑌛
Ccha
ccha
Manuscript form of ccha

Manuscript
Identifying this was only possible based on the words it was a part of.
𑌹𑍍𑌵
Hva
hva
Manuscript form of hva

Manuscript
The manuscript merges the characters horizontally, whereas the typographic form is vertically stacked.
𑌞𑍍𑌚𑍍𑌛
Ñccha
ñccha
Manuscript form of ñccha

Manuscript
Once we identify 𑌞𑍍𑌚 and 𑌚𑍍𑌛, this one is easy to identify since it is the only character that contains both of them.
𑌣𑍍𑌡
NDa
ɳɖ
Manuscript form of NDa

Manuscript
A bit obvious, but different from the typographic form.
𑌨𑍍𑌧
ndha
ŋdʱ
Manuscript form of ndha

Manuscript
This glyph looks much different from the typographic form and hence made it confusing.
𑌨𑍍𑌵𑍍𑌰
nvra
ŋvra
Manuscript form of nvra

Manuscript
This grapheme cluster, again, is easier to identify in retrospect, but since it's not a common glyph in Devanagari, it was not immediately obvious. The character 𑌨𑍍𑌵 is the same minus the lower loop.
𑌰𑍍𑌦𑍍𑌧
rddha
ɾdʱ
Manuscript form of rddha

Manuscript
Similar to 𑌰𑍍𑌤𑍍𑌥 (rttha) The only difference from 𑌦𑍍𑌧 is the loope at the end.
𑌶𑍍𑌮𑌿
Shmi
śmī
Manuscript form of shmi

Manuscript
Becomes obvious eventually.
𑌸𑍍𑌫𑍁
Sphu
sphu
Manuscript form of sphu

Manuscript
A very unique grapheme cluster, but hard to identify what consonants it was composed of.
𑌸𑍍𑌥
Stha
stha
Manuscript form of stha

Manuscript
Only obvious after being able to identifying the characters individually.