Literacy In Nine Days Only (LINDO)

Mandala approach to literacy

Mandala or Yantra is a symbolic depiction of the manifest and non-manifest realities in the universe. People in India and elsewhere have been practicing different techniques of meditations for thousands of years on the Shri Yantra (Shri Vidya Mandala). It is also considered to be the abode of the Divine Mother or the Goddess of Supreme Knowledge (Shri Vidya). Shri Yantra’s beauty, complex design and geometry has always amazed and puzzled the artists and scientists.

Shri Yantra also contains the mysteries of the origin and evolution of language and knowledge. It is the abode of the Supreme Intelligence and incorporates the code of phonetic alphabet.

The inner part of Shri Yantra has four triangles with apexes upwards and five triangles with apexes downwards. Intersection of lines of the nine triangles are called Chakras (circles) although they appear as hexagons. These hexagons constitute the base of 42 blue triangles called Shiva or consciousness areas. There is one more blue triangle inside the smallest hexagon. Other 46 areas are called Shakti or energy areas and are colored pink. When hexagons are converted into circles, the total number of blue and pink areas remains 89 (43 blue and 46 pink). The inner part of Shri Yantra may be depicted as a Mandala or Yantra as follows:

We may consider this mandala as a flower of writing symbols or script. Learning to read and write the writing symbols would be to arrange the petals of the flower in a tray (tray=yellow; blue petals=43; pink petals=46; rows of petals=9 including the central circle’s petals). Each petal is assigned a writing symbol and the 9 rows are arranged in 9 steps or 9 lessons for teaching the script. We will call the circular petals as chakras and the full form of flower in a tray like frame as Alphabet Yantra.

The 9 lessons (paat'ha) or steps for learning Romanaagarii or Saral Roman script are as follows:

Step-1

 (Basic vowels)

Writing symbols:

a  aa  i  ii

There is no vowel base in Romanaagarii

Step-2

(Basic consonants)

Writing symbols:

k  c  t’  t  p  y  s  n

Phonemes:

ka  ca  t’a  ta  pa  ya  sa  na

Step-3

(Other vowels)

Writing symbols:

u  uu  e  ee  o  oo  m'  h'

All vowels:

a  aa  i  ii  u  uu  e  ee  o  oo  m'  h'

Step-4

(Associate consonants)

Writing symbols:

g  j  d’  d  b  m  r  l  v  h

Phonemes:

ga  ja  d’a  da  ba  ma  ra  la  va  ha

baaraha khar’ii:

ka  kaa  ki  kii  ku  kuu  ke  kee  ko  koo  kam'  kah'

Step-5

( Numbers and counting)

Writing symbols:

0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9

In words:

shuunya eka do tiin caara paam'ca chah' saat aat’ha noo

Step-6

(Aspirated consonants)

Writing symbols:

kh  gh  ch  jh  t’h  d’h  th  dh  ph  bh

Phonemes:

kha gha cha jha t’ha d’ha tha dha pha bha

Step-7

 (Text punctuation and arithmetic symbols)

Writing symbols:

.  ,  ;  ?  !  +  -  *  /  =

Step-8

(Other consonants)

Writing symbols:

sh  s’  n’  m’  ñ  r’  r’h

’  k’  k’h  g’  z  f  v’

Phonemes:

sha s’a n’a m’a ña r’a r’ha

’a k’a k’ha g’a za fa v’a

Step-9

Writing symbols:

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