This book explores the interaction of rituals and ritualised practices utilising a cross-cultural approach. It discusses whether and why rituals are important today, and why they are possibly even more relevant than before.

Ute Hüsken is Head of the Department of Cultural and Religious History of South Asia (Classical Indology), South Asia Institute at Heidelberg University, Germany.

Christiane Brosius is Professor at Cluster of Excellence "Asia and Europe in a Global Context" Department, Heidelberg University, Germany.

Preface. Change and Stability of Rituals: An Introduction Christiane Brosius and Ute Hüsken Part I. Rituals on the Move 1. Staging Ritual Heritage: How Rituals Become Theatre in Uttarakhand, India Karin Polit 2. Initiation, 'Re-birth' and the Emergent Congregation: An Analysis of the Svadhyaya Movement in Western India Anindita Chakrabarti 3. Transferring and Re-transferring Religious Practice: ISKCON between 'East' and 'West' Frank Neubert 4. 'Marginalised Islam': The Transfer of Rural Rituals into Urban and Pluralist Contexts and the Emergence of Transnational 'Communities of Practice' Robert Langer 5. Sunni Concepts of Ritual Purity in a Contemporary Diaspora Context Udo Simon 6. Old Rituals for New Threats: Possession and Healing in the Cult of Sitala Fabrizio M. Ferrari 7. Transfer of Ritual in a Local Tradition: Some Observations Barbara Schuler Part II. Psychological Aspects of Ritual 8. The Uses of Ritual Sudhir Kakar 9. Dynamic of Emotions and Dynamic of Rituals: Do Emotions Change Ritual Norms? Angelos Chaniotis 10. Rituals of Possession William Sax and Jan Weinhold 11. Regarding Ritual Motivation Matters: Agency Concealed or Revealed Fletcher DuBois, Rolf Verres and Jan Weinhold Part III. Ritual Economy Beyond the Ritual Frame 12. The Power of Ritual in Marriage: A Daughter's Wedding in North-west India Tulsi Patel 13. Ritual Economy and South Indian Ritual Practice Ute Hüsken and K.K.A. Venkatachari Part IV. Media and Sensual Dimensions of Ritual Action 14. Ritual Differs: Beyond Fixity and Flexibility in South Indian Hindu Ritual Saskia Kersenboom 15. 'Wedding Design' Online: Transfer and Transformation of Ritual Elements in the Context of Wedding Rituals Kerstin Radde-Antweiler 16. Gender, Generation and the Public Sphere: Islamic Values and Literary Response Susanne Enderwitz 17. On the Representation of Presence: The Narrative of Devna¯ra¯yan· as a Multimedia Performance Aditya Malik Index