Hi there, my name is Shreya Maini.

I'm an ethnographer and scholar of contemporary Indian religion, fascinated by how Indians and members of the Indian diaspora are building religious and spiritual infrastructures in the shifting landscapes of globalization and political nationalism. My research sits at the crossroads of the anthropology of religion, Hinduism and New Age movements, historiography, ethnographic fiction, and experimental ethnography.

From 2022 to 2024, I explored ashrams, archives, and Zoom workshops across India, Europe, and the United States, conducting fieldwork for my dissertation on the World Teacher Trust—a global spiritual community that blends Theosophy, elements of Hinduism, and a New Age practice called C.V.V. Yoga. My research examines how this “hybrid” form of spirituality navigates the cultural and political currents of 20th- and 21st-century India, revealing the ways spiritual and occult movements both reflect and resist modernity, globalization, and religious nationalism.