Calligraphic style of Gurmukhi associated with Guru Gobind Singh and his entourage
Anandpur Lipi (Punjabi: ਆਨੰਦਪੁਰ ਲਿਪੀ; also known as Anandpuri Lipi or Shehkasteh) is a calligraphic (Punjabi: Shikasta[1][note 1]) style of the Gurmukhi script associated with Guru Gobind Singh.[2] It is commonly found among early manuscripts of the Dasam Granth scripture as the employed script.[citation needed]
Features
The font is characterized by "long flowing animated strokes".[3]
History
Origin
According to Sikhologist Gurinder Singh Mann, Anandpur Lipi first appears in the decade of the 1670's, developing further in the following three decades after.[4] Surviving examples of the font can be found on copper plates and scriptural manuscripts from the time-period.[4] The development of its physical appearance may have been influenced by Persian.[3]
Decipherment
In 1963, the late Sikh scholar Manohar Singh Marco rediscovered a historical Sikh scripture, which came to be known as the Anandpuri Bir.[3] The manuscript was rediscovered in a highly-decayed condition in the home of Pandit Om Prakash in Anandpur Sahib.[3] It was found lying amid other historical, handwritten texts.[3] The manuscript was written the calligraphic Anandpur Lipi font.[3] Marco would later devise a key to decipher the glyphs of the calligraphic font and match each glyph to their modern-Gurmukhi counterpart.[3] He accomplished this by separating each glyph individually.[3] A pamphlet was published by the Delhi Gurdware Parbandak Comittee to inform the Sikh congregation about the discovering of the manuscript and its deciphering.[3] The manuscript used to decipher the script has since been conserved, restored, microfilmed, and digitized.[3]
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