Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy released Unicode version of Tulu Script

Tulu script Unicode version was released by the Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy on 15 September 2014.  The release of the Unicode version will bring the Tulu script on the world language platform.

The software for Tulu script, so that it can be rendered into Unicode, was prepared by keyboard and font specialist K.P. Rao and M.J. Thomas of Manipal.

The Unicode version was developed on the basis of the recommendation of the Dr. Radhakrishna Committee constituted by the Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy. The other members of the committee were Venkataraja Punanchittaya, who demonstrated that Tulu had its own script, and S.A. Krishnaiah.

Finalisation of the Tulu script was largely influenced by Anjali script of Malayalam.

About Tulu script
Tulu script belongs to the Dravidian family of languages and is spoken in Tulu Nadu (coastal districts of Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Kasaragod districts).

Apart from Tulu Nadu, a significant emigrant population of Tuluva people is found in Maharashtra, Bangalore, Anglosphere, United States, and the Gulf countries.

At present, most Tulu works are written in Kannada. Tulu script is almost similar to Malayalam script and the font specialist prepared the software for Tulu to be rendered in Unicode.

Tulu literature available is translations works in Tulu from Sanskrit. They are

• Mahabharata called as Tulu Mahabharato
• Sri Bhagavata
• Kaveri
• Devi Mahatmyam