Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preliminary Material -- Consecration Rituals in South Asia: An Introduction / István Keul -- Vedic Astrology and the Prehistory of Varāhamihira’s Pratiṣṭhāpanādhyāya: Image Installation as Apotropaic Consecration / Marko Geslani -- On Image-Installation Rites (liṅga-pratiṣṭhā) in the Early Mantramārga / Dominic Goodall -- The Ratnanyāsa (Placing of Gems) Ritual in the Devyāmata, an Early Śaiva Pratiṣṭhātantra / Anna A. Ślączka -- The Importance of Pratiṣṭhā Ceremonies in the Śaivāgamas / Marie-Luce Barazer-Billoret -- Studies in Dhāraṇī Literature iv: A Nāga Altar in 5th Century India / Ronald M. Davidson -- At the Crossroads of Art and Religion: Image Consecration in the Pāncarātrika Sources / Marzenna Czerniak-Drożdżowicz -- Choosing an ācārya for Temple Construction and Image Installation / Elisabeth Raddock -- ‘Re-Installation’ of Idols Replacing Damaged Ones, with Special Reference to the Ritual Literature of Kerala / S.A.S. Sarma -- The Planting of Trees and the Dedication of a Garden: A Comparison with the Image Pratiṣṭhā / Shingo Einoo -- The Sūrimantra and the Tantricization of Jain Image Consecration / Ellen Gough -- Āgamic Temple Consecration Transnationalized / Annette Wilke -- Ritual Observed: Notes on the Structure of an Image Installation / István Keul -- Index.

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The essays in the volume Consecration Rituals in South Asia address the ritual procedures that accompany the installation of temple images in Shaiva, Vaishnava, Buddhist and Jain contexts, in various traditions and historical periods. Through the performance of complex rites designated with the term pranapratishtha (establishment of, or infusion with, life), man-made sculptures are ritually transformed into (receptacles of) deities. The collection is thematically and methodically broad, with a large number of detailed textual studies, but also with ethnographic contributions that discuss contemporary instances of consecration rituals. Among the overarching themes are issues related to historical continuity and change, as well as transformational moments in such rituals. Contributors are: Marie-Luce Barazer-Billoret, Marzenna Czerniak-Drożdżowicz, Ronald M. Davidson, Shingo Einoo, Marko Geslani, Dominic Goodall, Ellen Gough, István Keul, Elisabeth Raddock, S.A.S Sarma, Anna A. Ślączka, Annette Wilke.