Fixing Nepali Character Display Issues in Ubuntu

30 Aug 2020 •

After a fresh installation of Ubuntu, you might notice that Nepali scripts (Devanagari) don’t render correctly in Chrome, Chromium, or Firefox. The characters often look disjointed or completely broken.

I encountered this issue while working on a web project. Initially, I thought it was a CSS or encoding error in my application, but after testing on an Android phone and a Windows PC, the site looked perfect. The problem wasn’t the code; it was my Ubuntu configuration.

To fix this, you need to install the specific language packs and fonts for Devanagari support.

The Solution

Open your terminal and install the following packages:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install fonts-deva-extra language-pack-ne language-pack-gnome-ne

Breakdown of Packages

• fonts-deva-extra: Installs free fonts for the Devanagari script, which is essential for rendering the characters.
• language-pack-ne: Provides the base translation updates for the Nepali language.
• language-pack-gnome-ne: Ensures GNOME (the desktop environment) handles the translations correctly.

After installation, you may need to restart your browser or log out and log back in for the changes to take full effect.