Unicode to Bamini Converter

How to Convert Unicode to Bamini

1. Enter your Tamil text Copy Unicode Tamil from a document, website or chat app and paste it into the input box.
2. Convert the text Click “Convert to Bamini”, or leave auto-convert on to see results as you type.
3. Copy the result Use “Copy Output” to move the converted text into the application that expects Bamini.
4. Set the font and check In that application, select the Bamini font and confirm the Tamil renders correctly before you save or print.

Start with a short sample before converting a long document. Legacy encodings cannot carry every formatting detail, so bold text, tables and page layout still have to be redone in the destination application.

What Is Unicode to Bamini Conversion?

Unicode is the international text standard that every modern operating system, browser and phone understands. Tamil written today — on a website, in a chat app, in a spreadsheet — is almost always stored in Unicode, which means the Tamil letters themselves are in the file.

Bamini is a legacy Tamil font encoding that predates that standard. It does not store Tamil letters at all: it stores Latin characters, and the Bamini font file decides how those characters look. The sequence jkpo; therefore means nothing on its own; it becomes தமிழ் only when the Bamini font renders it.

That is the whole reason this converter exists. Changing the font in Word does not change the encoding underneath — pick Bamini for Unicode text and you get a page full of accented Latin letters. You have to transform the text itself, and that is what the tool above does: it maps every Tamil letter to the exact key sequence a Bamini font expects, and the reverse page maps those sequences back.

The mapping is not a simple one-letter swap. Tamil has compound letters, vowel signs that sit before the consonant, vowel signs that sit after it, and vowel signs that surround it on both sides. Bamini also gives some consonants dedicated keys for their ு and ூ forms. The engine handles these cases in a fixed order — ligature, dedicated key, composed key — which is why the same word always converts the same way.

Known Limitations

Legacy font encodings are not always fully documented, and different Bamini builds have shipped slightly different mappings. Rather than quietly guessing, here is exactly where this converter stands:

• Bamini version differences. A small number of code positions differ between Bamini releases. If an output character looks wrong, check it against your own font build.
• ஙு · ஞு · ஹு · ஷு · ஸு · ஙூ · ஞூ · ஹூ · ஷூ · ஸூ — composed, not published. These 10 clusters have no key of their own in the published Bamini charts we map from, so the engine builds them from the consonant plus the ு/ூ sign key (for example q{ for ஙு). We have checked that combination in the font files offered on the download page, but because no reference chart confirms it, treat these clusters as the least certain part of the mapping.
• க்ஷ is written as க் + ஷ. The charts we use give it no single key of its own, so the engine emits the pulli form f; followed by the ஷ key — the same strokes a typist would press.
• English text collides with Bamini codes. In the reverse direction the Latin letters are the codes, so a mixed sentence such as “Tamil” will decode as Tamil letters. Convert legacy text on its own, and keep the Unicode original alongside it.
• Round trips are not always lossless. A few sequences can be read in more than one way. The converter picks the reading that leaves the fewest stray characters, but do not treat the output as a reversible backup of your text.