वर्णमाला
Sanskrit Varnamala (Alphabet)
वर्णमाला (varṇamālā) literally means "garland of letters" — the Devanagari script's full set of vowels and consonants, organised by how each sound is produced.
Swara — Vowels (13–15)
अ
आ
इ
ई
उ
ऊ
ऋ
ॠ
ऌ
ए
ऐ
ओ
औ
अं
अः
Vyanjana — Consonants, by place of articulation
| Kanthya (Guttural) | क ख ग घ ङ |
| Talavya (Palatal) | च छ ज झ ञ |
| Murdhanya (Retroflex) | ट ठ ड ढ ण |
| Dantya (Dental) | त थ द ध न |
| Oshthya (Labial) | प फ ब भ म |
| Antahstha (Semi-vowels) | य र ल व |
| Ushman (Sibilants) | श ष स ह |
Why the grouping matters
Sanskrit's alphabet is organised phonetically, not alphabetically as in English — each row of five consonants (the Kanthya, Talavya, etc. groups) is produced at the same point in the mouth, moving from the throat (Kanthya) forward to the lips (Oshthya). This isn't accidental: classical Sanskrit grammarians analysed articulation with remarkable precision over two millennia ago.
Related pages
See Sanskrit Numerals for the number system, or Sanskrit Vyakaran for how these letters build into words and grammar.