Name for the most prevalent northern Indian script, which is still used to write holy Sanskrit, contemporary Hindi, and Marathi languages.
It is a descendent of the ancient Brahmi alphabet, from which the present Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya, and Punjabi languages get their scripts.
Its most distinguishing feature is that the top part of most letters is a horizontal line, which enables the letters to “hang” when written together, similar to washing on a clothesline.
Its name literally means "[script of the] city of the gods," and it was given this name, according to one idea, because it was invented in Benares, one of India's holiest towns.
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