The long and ‘joyous’ road to revive Nepal’s ancient taboo scripts

A formerly banned Indigenous calligraphy is now being practised ‘joyfully’ in corners of Kathmandu and beyond.

Kathmandu, Nepal – Dressed in an orange kurta (loose collarless tunic) and a matching Nepali dhaka waistcoat, Lalima Shrestha pulls a brown plastic chair closer to a makeshift table made from a table tennis board. Above, there’s a banner for “Nepal Lipi Guthi” (Institute of Nepal Epigraphy) in a calligraphic script known as Ranjana Lipi, and a poster of the Ranjana alphabet.

Shrestha is here at the open-air Narayani Square in Dhulikhel, a municipality 30km (18 miles) southwest of Nepal’s capital city, Kathmandu, to demonstrate the ancient art of Ranjana calligraphy. She is a member of Callijatra, one of two local organisations working to preserve and promote ancient scripts of Nepal – before they are forgotten.

It’s a warm morning in February and the crowded square is abuzz with the chimes of temple bells and noisy chatter of hundreds of students and adults, mostly dressed in haku patasi (a traditional four-piece black and red ensemble). They’ve come to participate in the annual dhimay jatra – a festival celebrating the dhimay, an ethnic drum of the Newar community, one of Nepal’s Indigenous peoples, with performances and competitions. Deep rhythmic sounds reverberate everywhere.

“Jwojalapa (welcome),” says Shrestha, 30, in Nepalbhasa, the language of the Newar community, to the few dozen festival attendees who have gathered at the booth.

Ranjana, which means “delightful” in Sanskrit, “is a joyous script”, Shrestha says, her mouth widening into a grin. She dips her chosa, a bamboo pen, into the earthy brown ink and prepares to write in Ranjana Lipi.