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TamilLegacy → Unicode

Bamini to Unicode Converter

Turn Bamini text that looks like “jkpo;” into real Tamil: “தமிழ்”. Unicode text reads correctly on any phone, browser or search engine.

0 chars0 words
<1 ms
Live conversion Private
20

  • Runs on your device

    Nothing is uploaded. Works offline once loaded.

  • Both directions

    Swap to go Unicode → Bamini in one click.

  • Loss report

    Characters a font can’t show are flagged, not dropped.

  • 297 mappings

    Every one is listed in the chart below.

01 · About the font

Bamini, in plain words.

A Tamil legacy font long used in Sri Lankan Tamil publishing, and by printers and typists in Tamil Nadu and the diaspora.

Bamini is a Tamil ASCII font family. Tamil is typed on a normal keyboard in Bamini, the file stores English letters, and the font draws Tamil. Its layout follows the Tamil typewriter keyboard, which made it a natural fit for typists trained on typewriters.

Tamil carried several competing legacy encodings before Unicode became dominant: TSCII, TAB/TAM, Bamini, Vanavil, Kalaham and others. A document is only readable in the font it was typed in, so choosing the right converter matters. Bamini is not interchangeable with TSCII or TAB.

Tamil’s pre-base vowel signs (ெ, ே, ை) and split vowels (ொ, ோ, ௌ) are typed before the consonant in Bamini, and Unicode needs them after it. This reordering is the main reason a simple find-and-replace produces broken Tamil.

Bamini (as stored)

jkpo;

Unicode (converted by this page)

தமிழ்

This sample is converted with the same engine as the tool above, when this page was built, and matches the expected text exactly.

Who still uses it

  • 01

    Sri Lankan Tamil publishing

    Newspapers, magazines and books that were set in Bamini, plus the archives they left behind.

  • 02

    Printers and DTP shops

    Tamil layouts in older design software that expect Bamini text.

  • 03

    Schools, temples and community groups

    Notices, hymn books and handouts typed in Bamini that now need to be shared on phones.

  • 04

    The Tamil diaspora

    Family and community archives that predate Unicode.

02 · How to

How to convert Bamini to Unicode (3 steps)

Legacy text only looks like Tamil on a computer that has Bamini installed. Everywhere else (phones, WhatsApp, websites, search results) it appears as English letters like “jkpo;”. Converting to Unicode fixes that for good.

  1. Paste your Bamini text

    Check that “From” says Bamini, then paste your text. Bamini text such as “jkpo;” looks like a jumble of English letters and symbols until it is converted.
    Bamini to Unicode converter with “From” set to Bamini and the Bamini sample “jkpo;” pasted into the input box

  2. Check the Unicode Tamil

    The Unicode Tamil appears as you paste: “தமிழ்”. Nothing in this Bamini sample was flagged. When something is, a “notes” button lists it.
    Output box showing the Bamini sample converted to Unicode Tamil: “தமிழ்”

  3. Copy it or save a Word file

    Copy puts “தமிழ்” on your clipboard, ready for WhatsApp, Gmail or Google Docs. The Word button saves a .docx already set in Nirmala UI, so you don’t need Bamini to read it.
    Bamini to Unicode converter after Copy, with the green “Copied” button, the message “Copied — paste it anywhere.” and the Download Word (.docx) button labelled

Pick a Unicode font. Latha or Nirmala UI on Windows, Noto Sans Tamil on the web and in Google Docs.

Have a whole document instead of a paragraph? The Word file converter keeps tables, bold text and layout.

03 · Output font

Set the output font in MS Word or Google Docs

Unicode text is real Tamil, so any Tamil-capable font will display it. Pick one that looks good for your document.

Microsoft Word

  1. 1Paste the converted text, then press Ctrl+A (Cmd+A on Mac) to select everything.
  2. 2On the Home tab, click the font box, type “Nirmala UI” and press Enter.
  3. 3Optional: Review → Language → Set Proofing Language → Tamil, so spell-check does not underline everything.
  4. 4If the text still shows boxes, install a Unicode font that covers the script, such as Noto Sans Tamil.

Google Docs

  1. 1Paste the converted text and select it with Ctrl+A.
  2. 2Open the font menu → More fonts, search for “Noto Sans Tamil” (or Noto Serif Tamil) and add it.
  3. 3Apply the font. Because the text is Unicode, it also copies cleanly into Gmail, Sheets and Slides.

04 · Mapping chart

Every key, and the letter it makes.

This is the actual table the converter uses, generated from the engine. Search for a key you see in garbled text, or for a letter you want to type.

297 mappings

Click a letter to copy the Unicode character. Click the key cap to copy the Bamini key.

05 · Known limits

What to watch for.

  • Pre-base vowel signs ெ ே ை are typed before the consonant. Split vowels ொ ோ ௌ are written around it and must be rebuilt as a single logical sequence in Unicode.
  • ஸ்ரீ has its own key (=), but க்ஷ does not: it is typed as க் followed by ஷ. Grantha letters such as ஜ, ஷ, ஸ and ஹ each have their own key.
  • Do not use the Bamini converter on TSCII, TAB/TAM or Vanavil text, and vice versa. They are separate encodings.

Coverage in this converter

  • Vowel signs239
  • Consonants23
  • Half forms22
  • Vowels12
  • Punctuation1

Compared with Pakeetharan Balasubramaniam’s unicode-bamini-converter and Open-Tamil (which share one mapping lineage) on 960 conversions, 904 matched exactly. Of the 56 differences, 29 were errors in the other converters and 27 were equivalent spellings. See the accuracy page for every difference.

06 · FAQ

Questions about Bamini to Unicode

How do I convert Bamini to Unicode Tamil?

Paste the Bamini text, review the Unicode preview, and copy it. The converter reorders the pre-base vowel signs and rebuilds split vowels so words render correctly in Latha, Nirmala UI or Noto Sans Tamil.

Why does my Tamil text look like “jkpo;”?

That is Bamini text without the font. “jkpo;” is how “தமிழ்” is stored. Converting it to Unicode stores the real Tamil letters.

Is my Bamini text uploaded to a server?

No. The conversion runs as JavaScript in your browser, so your text never leaves your device. Once the page has loaded, it works offline too.

Which font should I use after converting Bamini to Unicode?

Latha or Nirmala UI on Windows, Noto Sans Tamil on the web and in Google Docs. Unicode text is not tied to one font, so you can switch typeface later without converting again.

How accurate is the Bamini converter?

In our tests it agreed exactly with Pakeetharan Balasubramaniam’s unicode-bamini-converter and Open-Tamil on 904 of 960 conversions. Each of the other 56 was reviewed, and 29 turned out to be errors in the other converters. The sample on this page converts exactly as expected. No fluent-speaker review has been done, so read important text before you print or submit it.