Devanagari Stroke Orders

How to write in Devanagari script by hand? (If my tips don't make sense, please ask your questions in the comments section).

Devanagari script doesn't a separate hand written from, capital letters or cursive writing. It is written as it is printed, although, of course, the handwritten Devanagari varies from person to person just like the  handwritten English. Basic tips to keep in mind while writing in Devanagari:

Dancers in Jaipur, Rajasthan (Trip and photo: Aditya)

1. Make sure the Devanagari line, "hangs" on the upper line. Imagine that Devanagari characters are like hangers that hang on a rod (the line) that is placed up in the wardrobe (up = the upper line of a lined writing paper).

2. While writing a word in Devanagari, first you are supposed to write the letters and then draw the line, as if we draw the line first, we will not know how long the word is really going to be and we risk the line to become "too long", which will not look nice.

3. While writing, make sure you make your consonant signs look different from each other, especially pay attention to ए - ै, ऐ - े, इ - ि, ई - ी, ओ - ो, औ - ौ, उ - ु, ऊ - ू.

THESE SHEETS ILLUSTRATE THE DEVANAGARI STROKE ORDER:

अ	a
आ	aa
इ	i
ई	ee
उ	u
ऊ	oo
ऋ	Ri	(asp. Ri)

ए	e
ऐ	ai
ओ	o
औ	au
अं	an	(nasal n or m)
अः	ah	(sound "h")
क	ka

ख	kha
ग	ga
घ	gha
ङ	Da	(retroflex D)
च	cha
छ	chha
ज	ja

झ	jha
ञ	ja
ट	Ta	(retroflex T)
ठ	Tha	(retroflex Th)
ड	Da	(retroflex D)
ढ	Rha	(retroflext Rh)
ण	Na	(retroflex N)

त	ta
ठ	tha
द	da
ध	dha
न	na
प	pa
फ	pha

ब	ba
भ	bha
म	ma
य	ya
र	ra
ल	la
व	va

श	sha
ष	Sha	(retroflex Sh)
स	sa
ह	ha
क्ष	ksha	(popular conjunct)
त्र	tra	(popular conjunct)
ज्ञ	gya	(popular conjunct)
श्र	shra	(popular conjunct)

If you have any questions, please write a comment.

Mud slide in the Himalaya's trapped the cars (Trip and photo: Aditya)