Ute Hüsken is Professor and Head of the Department of Cultural and Religious History of South Asia at the South Asia Institute at Heidelberg University, Germany. Her books include The Ambivalence of Denial: Danger and Appeal of Rituals (coedited with Udo Simon). Vasudha Narayanan is Distinguished Professor of Religion and Director of the Center for the Study of Hindu Traditions at the University of Florida. Her books include The Life of Hinduism (coedited with John Stratton Hawley). Astrid Zotter is researcher at Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Germany. Her books include Hindu and Buddhist Initiations in India and Nepal (coedited with Christof Zotter).