Overview
Jai Shri Ram (IAST: Jaya Śrī Rāma) is an expression in Indic languages that translates to "Glory to Lord Rama" or "Victory to Lord Rama". It invokes Rama, a principal deity in Hinduism and the protagonist of the epic Ramayana, who is venerated across several Hindu traditions.
The phrase has long been used by Hindus as a greeting and as a devotional utterance. It also functions as an affirmation of adherence to the Hindu faith, appearing in religious gatherings, pilgrimages, bhajans and everyday salutations among devotees of Rama.
In the late twentieth century, the expression came to be increasingly used by Indian organisations associated with Hindutva, a Hindu nationalist ideology. Groups such as the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and their allies adopted the slogan as a means of increasing the visibility of Hinduism in public spaces, and subsequently employed it as a rallying cry at political and religious mobilisations.
The slogan has also been recorded in connection with episodes of communal violence directed against Muslims, marking a shift in some contexts from a purely devotional usage to a politically charged one. Its varied applications—devotional, cultural and political—reflect the broader trajectory of religious expressions in contemporary Indian public life.
References
Adapted from the English Wikipedia article on Jai Shri Ram.