Hinduism and Popular Cults in Mauritius

Suzanne Chazan-Gillig is an anthropologist and was formerly a senior researcher and consultant at the Institute for the Research and Development (IRD), France. She earned a doctorate in anthropology from the University of Paris V. She has written several books in French and has carried out extensive fieldwork in Madagascar. Her book on Sakalava Society in Madagascar was published in 1991. She has extensively published her research papers in refereed journals in both English and French. She also conducted empirical research in Mauritius on the topic of migrations, exchange and industrialisation in the context of globalisation of markets. Since 2002 she has been studying the social changes on the west coast of Madagascar. Pavitranand Ramhota is Associate Professor and Head of Department of Diaspora and Transnational Studies at the Rabindranath Tagore Institute, Mauritius. He has been UNICEF Consultant on “Women and Children in Mauritius” and UNESCO Consultant on the cultural heritage of Indian immigrants in Mauritius. He obtained a PhD in social anthropology with distinction from Institute National des Langues et Civilizations Orientale (Inalco), Paris. He has contributed several articles in refereed journals, and has organised many international seminars and conferences. He is currently working on Indian migration in the occidental Indian Ocean with a perspective of comparative forms of Hinduism and the world of capitalism.

List of Illustrations

Preface

Acknowledgements

In Memoriam

Introduction

1 Genesis of a Mauritian multicultural society

2 Observation of religious and cultural transformations

3 The Kalimais of Clémencia

4 The Kalimai of Beauvallon at Camp de Masque Pavé: The nurturing of social relations and the emergence of associations

5 The rituals observed at various kalimais

6 The Kalimais of Boutique Joseph and l’Unité: Contexts and differences

7 Development of villages and temples in the east: Social segmentations

Glossary

Bibliography

Index