Writing on signs in India
A line along the top
Hindi is written in Devanagari: letters hang from a straight line along the top of each word. Signs often add English, or a regional script.
- The top line joins the letters of a word, like in भारत.
- India has many scripts: in the south you see round Tamil, Telugu or Kannada letters.
- English is everywhere on Indian shop signs.
12 photos, grouped by the clue they show.
Key clue Shop sign 7
Key clue Street sign 5
India: what its writing looks like
Hindi is written in Devanagari. Its letters hang from a line along the top of each word, like washing on a line. You see it in the north of India, often beside English.
India has many other scripts: round Tamil, Telugu and Kannada in the south, Gurmukhi in Punjab, Gujarati without a top line in the west. Seeing two scripts on one sign is common.
Devanagari is used across the north of India. The south and the east use their own scripts, and English is everywhere.
Look-alikes: how to tell them apart
India vs 
Nepal
Bangladesh
Nepal writes in the same Devanagari script. Bengali, used in Bangladesh and West Bengal, has a top line too, but with triangle shapes.
Questions about the writing in India
What script is Hindi written in?
Devanagari, the script with a line along the top of each word.
Do all Indian signs use Hindi?
No. Many states use their own language and script, like Tamil or Bengali, usually together with English.