Celebrating Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month #14

"Jaya Ho" ("Victory Hymn"), no. 478 in The United Methodist Hymnal, is an anonymous Hindi verse from India.

The 1958 English transcription by Katherine R. Rohrbough, speaks of bowing low at God's feet in holy reverence. I-to Loh, phonetic transcriber from the Hindi (1988), writes, "To 'bow in reverence' is a typical posture of humility as is paying homage to the great and Holy God; praying for forgiveness and protection from harm and evil are primary concerns of the faithful.'"

The traditional Hindi melody was arranged in 1955 by Victor Sherring (b.1919) for the Centennial Choir of India's 1955-56 tour of India and seventy U.S.A. cities. Sherring was born and was raised in India, attending Indian Methodist Schools followed by university education in the U.S.A. He popularized Indian church music by arranging texts and music for publication.

Source: C. Michael Hawn, History of Hymns