KONKANAGARI LIPI(Script)

Among the inscriptions at the foot of the colossal statue of Bahubali at Sravanabelagola in Karnataka are two lines reading thus:  (i) Sri Chamundaraje Karaviyale and (ii) Sri Ganga raje sutthale karaviyale. The first line was inscribed circa 981 AD and the second line in16-17 AD. The language of these lines is Konkani according to Dr. S.B. Kulkarni (former head of Department of Marathi, Nagpur University) and Dr. Jose Pereira (former professor, Fordham University, USA). Considering these arguments, these inscriptions at Sravanabelegola may be considered the earliest Konkani inscriptions in Konkanagari script.

It is commonly believed that the Konkani literature flourished in Goa before the arrival of the Portuguese arrival on the scene and that the literature was destroyed by a ruling of 30^th June, 1541 and which continued for nearly two centuries.   Scholars are divided on this issue and very little trace of pre Portuguese Konkani is available to us.   Fortunately,  what little has survived  (See Konkani Mandakini by Dr. Jose Pereira, published by Goa Konkani Akademi, Goa, 1996 and Konkani Manasagangotri by Dr. Olivinho Gomes, published by Konkani Sorospot Prakashan, Chandor, Goa, 2000) provides a sample of the pre-Portuguese Konkani literature.  The  Godde Ramayan (edited by Prof. R.K. Rao, Kochi, 1989)  and  Solavya Shatakaantlem Konknni Mhabharat (edited by Pratap Nayak, S.J, Panaji, Goa, 1990) also give an insight of the pre Portuguese Konkani writing.  The stories are attributed to Krishnadas Shama, a Goan Konkani.

Though the Konkani books and literature were destroyed as believed by some, the missionaries created history by setting up the printing press in Goa in 1556. Some of the earliest books printed there were in Konkani. Thus, Konkani had the privilege of having the first texts printed in an Indian language.

In the last couple of decades in the 17^th century, history was also being created by the Konkanis in Kochi. Three Konkani physicians viz.. Appu Bhat, Ranga Bhat and Vinayak Pandit who were approached by Henrique Van Rheede, the Dutch Commodore to compile the botanical book Hortus Indicus Malabaricus. The 12 volumes of the book were published during the period 1678 to 1693.  The book contains the names of the plants in Konkani. Besides, the testimonial given by the threesome is also in  Konkani. During the 17^th and 18^th centuries, several monumental works in Konkani were churned out by the missionaries.

An inscription at the foot of the colossal Jain monolith Bahubali (The word gomateshvara apparently comes from Konkani gomaṭo which means "beautiful" or "handsome" and īśvara "lord") at Shravanabelagola of 981 CE reads, in a variant of KonkaNagari.

"śrīcāvuṇḍarājē̃ kara viyālē̃, śrīgaṅgārājē̃ suttālē̃ kara viyālē̃" (Chavundaraya got it done, Gangaraya got the surroundings done).

Another inscription in KonkaNagari, of Shilahara King Aparaditya II of the year 1187 AD in Parel reportedly contains Konkani words, but this has not been reliably verified.

Many stone and copper-plate inscriptions found in Goa and Konkan are written in Konkani. The grammar and the base of such texts is in Konkani, whereas very few verbs are in Marathi. Copper plates found in Ponda dating back to the early 13th century, and from Quepem in the early 14th century, have been written in Goykanadi. One such stone inscription or shilalekh (written Konkanagari) is found at the Nageshi temple in Goa (dating back to the year 1463 AD). It mentions that the (then) ruler of Goa, Devaraja Gominam, had gifted land to the Nagueshi Maharudra temple when Nanjanna Gosavi was the religious head or Pratihasta of the state. It mentions words like, kullgga, kulaagra, naralel, tambavem, and tilel.

A piece of hymn dedicated to Lord Narayana attributed to the 12th century AD says:

"jaṇẽ rasataḷavāntũ matsyarūpē̃ vēda āṇiyēlē̃. manuśivāka vāṇiyēlē̃. to saṁsārasāgara tāraṇu. mōhō to rākho nārāyāṇu". (The one who brought the Vedas up from the ocean in the form of a fish, from the bottoms of the water and offered it to Manu, he is the one Saviour of the world, that is Narayana my God.).

A hymn from the later 16th century goes

vaikuṇṭhācē̃ jhāḍa tu gē phaḷa amṛtācē̃, jīvita rākhilē̃ tuvē̃ manasakuḷācē̃.

Early Konkani was marked by the use of pronouns like dzo, jī, and jẽ. These are replaced in contemporary Konkani by koṇa. The conjunctions yedō and tedō ("when" and "then") which were used in early Konkani are no longer in use. The use of -viyalẽ has been replaced by -aylẽ. The pronoun moho, which is similar to the Brijbhasha word mōhē has been replaced by mākā.