Reading Devanāgarī

I read Sanskrit in IAST, the romanization with the dots and macrons (kṛṣṇa, śrī, saṃskṛtam), comfortably. Devanāgarī, the script the texts are printed in, I still read slowly. These pages are the bridge: the script in order, each letter beside the IAST it stands for, a drill on every lesson, then words and lines to read.

1. Vowelsअ आ इ ई उThe vowel letters, short and long, and the diphthongs.
2. The five rows of stopsक ख ग घ ङThe twenty-five stops in their grid, from the throat to the lips.
3. Semivowels, sibilants and hय र ल व शThe eight consonants outside the grid: y r l v, ś ṣ s, h.
4. Letters that look alikeप ष ब व मThe pairs that slow reading down, side by side.
5. Vowel signs on a consonantक का कि की कुEvery vowel as a sign on k, the few consonants that bend a sign, and the whole chart.
6. Virāma, anusvāra, visarga, candrabindu, avagrahaक् त् वाक् मरुत् संस्कृतम्The five marks: a consonant with no vowel, ṃ, ḥ, m̐ and the elided a.
7. Conjunctsक्ष ज्ञ त्र श्र त्तConsonant clusters: the ones to learn by sight, r in its two shapes, and the half letters.
8. Numerals० १ २ ३ ४The ten digits and the number words.
9. Reading wordsजल अग्नि सूर्य चन्द्र नदीCommon words to read, with their IAST and meaning on a tap.
10. Reading namesभारत गङ्गा यमुना सिन्धु हिमालयPlaces, texts and authors, read in Devanāgarī.
11. Reading linesवृद्धिरादैच्Sūtras, sayings and verses, from two words to four lines.

How it works

Every Devanāgarī letter, word and line on these pages is made from its IAST by the site's own converter, so the two always agree.

Each drill asks every item both ways, Devanāgarī to IAST and then IAST to Devanāgarī, as multiple choice; Devanāgarī to IAST can be typed instead. A miss comes back later in the round, and a lesson is drilled when every item has been right both ways. Progress is kept in this browser only.

A tap on a letter or a word speaks it, in the browser's Hindi voice where there is one. That is an approximation of Sanskrit: Hindi drops a word's final short a (it says rām for rāma), says ṛ as ri, ṣ like ś, and jñ as gy.