Koleḻuttŭ () was a syllabic script historically employed in
Kerala
Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
, south India, for writing the
Malayalam language
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...
.
Kolezhuthu developed from the
Vattezhuthu (script) during the post-
medieval Chera period (c. 12th century onwards) in Kerala.
It was used by certain Keralite communities, such as Muslims and Christians, until as late as the 18th century AD.
The term Kolezhuthu is likely derived from the distinctive type of stylus traditionally used in its inscription.
In present-day Malayalam, ''kōl'' refers to a stylus or an elongated stick-like object, while ''eḻuttŭ'' denotes 'written form'.
Unicode
Not yet added to Unicode, no proposals yet.
References
Malayalam language
Brahmic scripts
{{Dr-lang-stub