Myriam Yassamine CAUSSY

Myriam Yassamine Caussy is a PhD candidate since 2025 at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) and affiliated with the Centre d’Études Sud-Asiatiques et Himalayennes (CESAH). Under the supervision of Aminah Mohammad-Arif and Margherita Trento, her research focuses on the transformations of Hindu practices and their impact on the construction of Hindu identities, both in India and across the diaspora. Her academic work explores more specifically the evolution of domestic cults dedicated to Hanuman, a deity whose popularity raises questions around the significant religious and social reconfigurations within Hindu communities.

This doctoral project examines the transformations of Hindu practices and their impact on the construction of Hindu identities, both in India and across the diaspora. The research focuses more specifically on the evolution of domestic cults dedicated to Hanumān, a deity whose growing popularity today accompanies significant religious and social reconfigurations within Hindu communities.

To capture these dynamics in their full diversity, the study relies on a comparative aspect articulated around two field sites: Delhi and Mauritius. This way it makes it possible to observe, within distinct historical and sociolinguistic contexts, the ways in which devotional practices centered on Hanuman are reinterpreted or appropriated. The aim is to understand how these settings shape, or, conversely, depart from, a shared divine figure, thereby revealing contrasting modes of negotiating religious practices, cultural memories, and contemporary identity issues. My fieldwork in India will revolve around the daily practices in Hanumān ’s cult starting from the temple with a focus on the Hanumān Pracheen Mandir of Connaught Place as well as outside of it, to understand these practices’ place in Delhi’s streets.

CV_Myriam Caussy