Chandrabindu
diacritic mark typically denoting vocalic nasalization in Indic abugidas
Chandrabindu (Sanskrit: चन्द्रबिन्दु; IAST: candrabindu, lit. 'moon dot') is a diacritic sign with the form of a dot inside the lower half of a circle. It is used in the Devanagari (ँ), Bengali-Assamese (ঁ), Gujarati (ઁ), Odia (ଁ), Tamil (◌𑌁 Extension used from Grantha), Telugu (ఁ), Kannada (◌ಁ), Malayalam (◌ഁ), Sinhala (◌ඁ), Javanese ( ꦀ) and other scripts.
It usually means that the previous vowel is nasalized.
In Hindi, it is replaced in writing by anusvara when it is written above a consonant that carries a vowel symbol that extends above the top line.
In Classical Sanskrit, it seems to occur only over a lla, yya, or vva conjunct consonant, to show that it is pronounced as a nasalized double l, y, or v which occurs if they have become assimilated in sandhi.
In Vedic Sanskrit, it is used instead of anusvara to represent the sound anunasika when the next word starts with a vowel. It usually occurs where in earlier times a word ended in -ans.
Glyph comparison
Unicode
Unicode encodes chandrabindu and chandrabindu-like characters for a variety of scripts:
U+0901 ँ DEVANAGARI SIGN CANDRABINDU
U+A8F2 ꣲ DEVANAGARI SIGN SPACING CANDRABINDU
U+A8F3 ꣳ DEVANAGARI SIGN CANDRABINDU VIRAMA
U+0900 ऀ DEVANAGARI SIGN INVERTED CANDRABINDU
U+0A01 ਁ GURMUKHI SIGN ADAK BINDI
U+0A70 ੰ GURMUKHI TIPPI
U+0C80 ಀ KANNADA SIGN SPACING CANDRABINDU
U+0C81 ಁ KANNADA SIGN CANDRABINDU
U+0C01 ఁ TELUGU SIGN CANDRABINDU
U+0C00 ఀ TELUGU SIGN COMBINING CANDRABINDU ABOVE
U+0981 ঁ BENGALI SIGN CANDRABINDU
U+0B01 ଁ ORIYA SIGN CANDRABINDU
U+0D01 ഁ MALAYALAM SIGN CANDRABINDU
U+0A81 ઁ GUJARATI SIGN CANDRABINDU
U+11000 𑀀 BRAHMI SIGN CANDRABINDU
U+115BC 𑖼 SIDDHAM SIGN CANDRABINDU
U+11301 𑌁 GRANTHA SIGN CANDRABINDU
U+11F00 𑼀 KAWI SIGN CANDRABINDU
U+0F82 ྂ TIBETAN SIGN NYI ZLA NAA DA
U+0F83 ྃ TIBETAN SIGN SNA LDAN
U+A873 ꡳ PHAGS-PA LETTER CANDRABINDU
U+11443 𑑃 NEWA SIGN CANDRABINDU
U+11C3C 𑰼 BHAIKSUKI SIGN CANDRABINDU
U+111CF 𑇏 SHARADA SIGN INVERTED CANDRABINDU
U+1193C 𑤼 DIVES AKURU SIGN CANDRABINDU
U+A8C5 ꣅ SAURASHTRA SIGN CANDRABINDU
U+11080 𑂀 KAITHI SIGN CANDRABINDU
U+114BF 𑒿 TIRHUTA SIGN CANDRABINDU
U+11CB6 𑲶 MARCHEN SIGN CANDRABINDU
U+1B01 ᬁ BALINESE SIGN ULU CANDRA
U+1B00 ᬀ BALINESE SIGN ULU RICEM
U+1C34 ᰴ LEPCHA CONSONANT SIGN NYIN-DO
U+1C35 ᰵ LEPCHA CONSONANT SIGN KANG
U+11A35 𑨵 ZANABAZAR SQUARE SIGN CANDRABINDU
U+11A36 𑨶 ZANABAZAR SQUARE SIGN CANDRABINDU WITH ORNAMENT
U+11A37 𑨷 ZANABAZAR SQUARE SIGN CANDRA WITH ORNAMENT
U+0310 ◌̐ COMBINING CANDRABINDU is a general-purpose combining diacritical mark intended for use with Latin letters in transliteration of Indic languages.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Chandrabindu” is diacritic mark typically denoting vocalic nasalization in Indic abugidas. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Chandrabindu, diacritic and mark, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “diacritic mark typically denoting vocalic nasalization in Indic abugidas” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q993517. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Chandrabindu”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Chandrabindu primary sources, Chandrabindu archive and Chandrabindu research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Chandrabindu”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Chandrabindu” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.