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Marathi Varnamala

About 6 min · Marathi Language (मराठी) · English

Time worked out from the lesson's 386 words at 150 words a minute, plus a minute for each question.

Marathi Varnamala forms the absolute foundation of Marathi language proficiency. Questions typically test your ability to identify vowels versus consonants, count total letters, recognise special Marathi-specific characters, and understand letter classification based on pronunciation.

Key ideas

• Total Letters in Marathi Varnamala: Marathi has 48 basic letters — 12 vowels (swar) and 36 consonants (vyanjan). Some classifications include additional compound letters, bringing the extended count to 52.
• Swar (स्वर) — Vowels: These are independent sounds that can be pronounced without help from other letters. Marathi has 12 swar: अ, आ, इ, ई, उ, ऊ, ऋ, ए, ऐ, ओ, औ, अं (anusvara counted separately in some systems).
• Vyanjan (व्यंजन) — Consonants: These require a vowel sound to be pronounced completely. Marathi has 36 vyanjan organised into structured groups.
• Varga Vyanjan (वर्ग व्यंजन): The first 25 consonants arranged in 5 groups of 5 letters each, classified by the mouth position used for pronunciation (kanthya, talavya, murdhanya, dantya, oshthya).
• Avarga Vyanjan (अवर्ग व्यंजन): The remaining 11 consonants (य, र, ल, व, श, ष, स, ह, ळ, क्ष, ज्ञ) that don't fit into the five varga groups.

Watch out for

• Confusing total count as 52 instead of 48: Students add visarga, anusvara, and chandrabindu as separate letters. The basic varnamala has 48 letters; extended systems may show 52. Know which count your exam expects.
• Forgetting "ळ" as Marathi-specific: Many students overlook that "ळ" distinguishes Marathi from Hindi. When asked about unique Marathi letters, this is the answer.
• Mixing up hrasva and dirgha swar: Remember that अ, इ, उ, ऋ are short (hrasva), while आ, ई, ऊ are long (dirgha). A common trick question asks which vowel has no dirgha form — answer: ऋ (ॠ exists but is rarely used in Marathi).

Quick reference

• 12 Swar + 36 Vyanjan = 48 total letters
• Varga vyanjan: 5 groups × 5 letters = 25 consonants
• Avarga vyanjan: 11 letters (includes ळ, क्ष, ज्ञ)
• ळ = Unique to Marathi, not in Hindi
• Memory for varga order: क च ट त प — "Kaccha Tat Pata"

Check yourself: 3 questions

This lesson is cut from the topic's note, not rewritten. Fact-checked on 21 Oct 2026: an AI-assisted check of this note against cited sources; the errors it found were corrected that day. Some errors may remain. The questions are from Shishya's validated question bank.

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