Jainī is a Devanāgarī typeface based on the calligraphic style of the Jain Kalpasūtra manuscripts.
It is designed by me, under constant guidance of Girish Dalvi. The design of this font is based on the 1503 Kalpasūtra manuscript. Jainī has several unique features not seen in Bāḻabodha, these include disconnected śirōrēkhā with triangular wedges, short upper mātrās, squarish letters with large kānā-height, heavy knots, and lower matrās integrated within the kānā height. Since the original manuscript uses letter-shapes which are not familiar to contemporary readers, these have been redesigned along with Latin numbers and punctuations.
In this paper presentation, I describe the process of reviving this unique Jain Kalpasūtra manuscript calligraphy style
as a contemporary Devanāgarī typeface, 'Jainī '. Calligraphic revivals pose many challenges;
I discuss these difficulties and the approaches taken to resolve them.
Presented at Typography Day 2017, Sri Lanka.
If you wish to read the paper, please visit
http://www.typoday.in/2017/spk_papers/maithili-shingre-typoday-2017.pdf
