---
name: locale-sa-in
description: Use when working with the Sanskrit (India) locale (`sa-IN`) — its endonym संस्कृतम् (भारतम्), Devanagari script, left-to-right (LTR) direction, or spoken-population data. Reference data and translation guidance (register, grammar, idiom, typography) for this specific locale; see [[locale]] for general i18n/l10n concepts (BCP 47, plural rules, RTL) that apply across all locales.
---

# Locale: Sanskrit (India) (sa-IN)

Reference data for the **Sanskrit (India)** locale — endonym **संस्कृतम् (भारतम्)**, written in the Devanagari script, left-to-right (LTR).

## Identifiers

- **BCP 47 tag:** `sa-IN`
- **ISO 639-1:** `sa`
- **ISO 639-3:** `san`
- **Script:** Deva (Devanagari)
- **Region:** IN (India)
- **Text direction:** ltr — left-to-right (LTR)

## Speakers (approximate)

- **L1 (native):** 20,000
- **L2 (additional):** 5,000,000
- **L1+L2 (total):** 5,020,000

## Base locale

This is a regional variant of [[locale-sa-001]] (Sanskrit), the base/macro locale for this language.

## Pluralization

CLDR has no explicit plural rule defined for this language; it falls back to the root rule of a single **other** category (1 form) — every count uses the same word form, as in Japanese or Chinese.

See [[unicode-messageformat]] for writing plural messages using these categories.

## Translating into this locale

Apply [[locale-sa-001]] with the conventions of India.

- **Context:** Sanskrit is one of the scheduled languages of India and is used in ceremonies, education, and scholarship. Modern vocabulary should follow the Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology or the Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan.
- **Formats:** Devanagari digits in print; dates may include the Vikram Samvat and Shaka years for ritual use.

## Common pitfalls

- Mixing Hindi vocabulary into Sanskrit text.
- Using modern coinages without an authority.
- The general pitfalls in [[locale-sa-001]] also apply.

## Learn more

- [[locale]] for BCP 47 identifiers, locale-sensitive formatting, pluralization, and text-direction concepts that apply across all locales.
- [[unicode-messageformat]] for writing plural/selection messages correctly for this locale's grammar.
- Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology (CSTT)