What does "saffronization" mean?

The politics of right-wing Hindu nationalism (Hindutva) that seek to make the Indian state adopt policies that recall and glorify Hindu cultural history and heritage of India at the expense of other religious traditions.

Saffronization

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
The politics of right-wing Hindu nationalism (Hindutva) that seek to make the Indian state adopt policies that recall and glorify Hindu cultural history and heritage of India at the expense of other religious traditions. India, derogatory, uncountable
"Given the 'saffronization' of Congress, the 'ethnoreligious purification' of the BJP, and the parturition of the avowedly secular parties (CPI, SJP and BSP) […]"

Example

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"Given the 'saffronization' of Congress, the 'ethnoreligious purification' of the BJP, and the parturition of the avowedly secular parties (CPI, SJP and BSP) […]"

Etymology

From saffron + -ization, after the saffron robes worn by Hindu priests and monks.

Related phrases

right wing

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.