Three-line scaffold for Devanagari handwriting practice: ascender, the characteristic heavy shirorekha (top horizontal line), and baseline.

Free printable Devanagari handwriting practice paper PDF. Three-line scaffold with the characteristic shirorekha (heavy top line) for Hindi, Sanskrit, Marathi and Nepali script.

Devanagari Handwriting Practice Paper | Free Printable PDF

Devanagari Handwriting Practice Paper

When practicing single letters, draw the consonant body first and then add the shirorekha across the top. When writing words, the standard order is to write the consonant bodies of all letters in the word first (without shirorekhas), then draw one continuous shirorekha across the top connecting them all. The continuous shirorekha is what gives Devanagari its distinctive visual flow.

Write the shirorekha last for individual letters, first for words

The shirorekha should be slightly heavier than the consonant strokes — visually 'load-bearing' — but not so heavy that it dominates the page. The bold line on this template is sized to match standard handwriting; trace it cleanly and your letters will inherit its visual weight.

Match the shirorekha thickness to the consonant strokes

Vowel matras attach in different positions: ि (i) before the consonant, ी (ī) after, ा (ā) after, े (e) above, ै (ai) above, ो (o) after with crown, ौ (au) after with double crown, ु (u) below, ू (ū) below. Each has a strict positional rule. Practice these systematically — sloppy matra placement is the most common Devanagari handwriting error.

Practice matra placement

Devanagari forms consonant clusters by joining consonants in special conjunct forms (क्ष, त्र, ज्ञ, etc.). These often compress vertically within the same row, with one consonant sitting on top of or behind another. The standard row height accommodates them; don't write conjuncts taller than the row allows.