The Muslims of Kerala have made their contribution in the field of Arabic calligraphy, by developing a distinct style locally known as the 'Ponnani Style'. It is also known as 'Valiya Aksharam' or 'Big Letters'.
Ponnani, a city in the present day Malappuram district, was the highest seat of Islamic learning in Kerala. The 'Ponnani style' of calligraphy has been used to print copies of the Qur'aan and other publications in Arabi-Malayalam.
Fig. 1: A Page from Qur'aan Printed in Ponnani Script
Arabi-Malayalam is Malayalam written using the Arabic script. It is believed to have been developed as the result of the cultural synthesis between the Arabs and the Keralites. Arabi-Malayalam is written right-to-left and the early Muslims preferred this over writing left-to-right.
In addition to the twenty eight letters of the Arabic alphabet, this script uses some Persian letters (گ ,ژ ,چ ,پ) and special letters to denote Malayalam phonemes. This script is heavily influenced by the Perso-Arabic writing system.
In this style the horizontal and round strokes are much thicker than the vertical ones. The two dots above/below the letters such ق ,ت and ي are replaced with a 'horizontal dash'. In those letters which have three dots above it, the two lower dots are replaced with a horizontal dash retaining the third dot over it.
In this style the horizontal and round strokes are much thicker than the vertical ones. The two dots above/below the letters such ق ,ت and ي are replaced with a 'horizontal dash'. In those letters which have three dots above it, the two lower dots are replaced with a horizontal dash retaining the third dot over it.
Textbooks printed in Arabi-Malayalam are followed by the students in madrassas across Kerala and Lakshadweep even today.
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