The
Vaṭṭeḻuttu alphabet, also spelled
Vattezhutthu (literally "rounded script", ; ) is an
abugida writing system originating from the ancient
Tamil people of
South India. Developed from
Tamil-Brahmi, Vatteluttu is one of the three main alphabet systems developed by
Tamil people to write the Proto-
Tamil language, alongside the ancient
Granthi or
Pallava alphabet and the
Tamil script. The syllabic alphabet is attested from the 6th century CE to the 14th century in present-day
Tamil Nadu and
Kerala states of India.
[1] It was later supplanted by modern
Tamil script and
Malayalam script. Vaṭṭeḻuttu replaced Tamil-Brahmi for writing Tamil after the 2nd century CE. This rounded form of writing was also used in
Kerala to write in Tamil as well as in proto-Malayalam and
Malayalam language. Currently, Malayalam uses the
Malayalam script. Inhabitants of Kuccaveli, located north of
Trincomalee, used the Vaṭṭeḻuttu script between the 5th and 8th centuries, attested to on rock inscriptions found there.
Inscriptional records in Tamil date from 300 BCE to 1800. Grantha was an alphabet in which extra letters were created specifically for Sanskrit words. It was also a modified form of Tamil script to write Sanskrit granthas or books. In Tamil many of the letters which are found in Sanskrit do not exist.