Malayalam is a language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territory of Lakshadweep. To type in Malayalam or read Malayalam content on your computer or mobile device, you will need appropriate Malayalam fonts. Here is a guide on how to download and install Malayalam fonts for free:
Understanding ISCII and Unicode Malayalam Fonts
Before diving into the guide, let’s first explore the two types of Malayalam fonts: ISCII and Unicode Font. These are the two different encoding systems used to represent Malayalam script in digital form. Let’s take a closer look at each of these font types:
Malayalam ISCII Font (Indian Script Code for Information Interchange):
ISCII is an 8-bit encoding system developed by the Indian government’s Department of Electronics in 1991. It was designed specifically to represent Indian scripts, including Malayalam, in a standardized and compact manner. ISCII assigns unique codes to various characters of the Indian scripts, allowing them to be represented and manipulated in computers and other electronic devices.
ISCII Malayalam fonts are based on this encoding system, and each character in the font is mapped to a specific ISCII code. However, ISCII has been largely superseded by Unicode, as it has some limitations, such as being unable to represent all the characters and diacritical marks in Indian scripts accurately.