From Wikinfo

The Bengali script is a Brahmic script whose use is primarily associated with the Bengali language, though Assamese, Manipuri and nowadays also Sylheti also utilize it. While it is very similar to Devanagari, it is less blocky and presents a more sinuous shaping. The modern script was formalised in 1778 when it was first typeset by Charles Wilkins. There are some minor differences between the version of the script used for Bengali and Assamese - ra and va are written differently. It has also been used for centuries to write Sanskrit, especially when dealing with Hindu scripture such as the Mahabharata or Ramayana, and has a rich legacy of Indian literature written in it.

Clusters of consonants are represented by different and sometimes quite irregular characters, so learning to read it is complicated by the size of the alphabet, which numbers about 500 or so characters. While effort at standardizing script continue in such notable centers as the Bangla Academies (unaffiliated) at Dhaka (Bangladesh) and Kolkata (West Bengal, India), it is still not quite uniform as yet, since different people continue to use a few older forms of letters, thus making for concurrent forms for the same sounds.

It seems likely that the standardisation of the language will be greatly influenced by the need to typeset it on computers. The large alphabet could be represented, with a great deal of ingenuity, within the Ascii character set, but certain irregular conjuncts were omitted. Work has been underway since around 2001 to develop Unicode fonts, and it seems likely that it will split into two variants, traditional and modern.

Bengali in Unicode

The Unicode range for Bengali is U+0980 ... U+09FF.

Free Bangla Unicode Fonts

Sample Text

The following is a sample text of script. The selection is a Bengali song, highly Sanskritized and later adopted as the national anthem of India. It was written by a man who is acknowledged as the single most important and defining figure of Bengali literature, the Noble Laureate and philosopher-saint poet Rabindranath Tagore (Thakur in Bengali).

Bengali Text of Jana Gana Mana:

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জনগণমন-অধিনায়ক জয় হে ভারতভাগ্যবিধাতা!
পঞ্জাব সিন্ধু গুজরাট মরাঠা দ্রাবিড় উত্‍‌কল বঙ্গ
বিন্ধ্য হিমাচল যমুনা গঙ্গা উচ্ছলজলধিতরঙ্গ
তব শুভ নামে জাগে, তব শুভ আশিস মাগে,
গাহে তব জয়গাথা।
জনগণমঙ্গলদায়ক জয় হে ভারতভাগ্যবিধাতা!
জয় হে, জয় হে, জয় হে, জয় জয় জয়, জয় হে॥

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References

• Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Bengali_script" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengali_script, used under the GNU Free Documentation License