In its strategy of postcolonial nation-building with a highly diverse population Mauritius has opted for a multicultural highlighting of the differences in ethnicity and religion among its population. Akin to a mosaic, the Mauritian state officially recognizes the existence of several “ancestral cultures” of its citizenry, above all those of Indian and Chinese ancestry. For Mauritians of Indian background such “ancestral cultures” with associated “ancestral languages” are largely coterminous with religious traditions. The official support for such ancestral languages with ethno-religious connotations was already established at independence while support for the universal vernacular Mauritian Creole that is not tied to a particular religion has only picked up in recent years and is still far from the level of support enjoyed by those cultivating “ancestral languages.” An analysis of the cultural politics of language therefore points to the often hidden centrality of religion and religious difference for cultural citizenship in Mauritius.