Fabrizio M. Ferrari is Professor of Indology and South Asian Religions in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Chester. Thomas Dahnhardt is Assistant Professor in Hindi and Urdu Languages and Literatures in the Department of Asian and Mediterranean African Studies at the Ca' Foscari University of Venice.

• Introduction Fabrizio M. Ferrari and Thomas Dahnhardt Section 1: Myth and Ritual 1. Five Stones - Four Rivers - One Town: the Hindu Pancayatana Puja Mikael Aktor, University of Southern Denmark 2. A "Sulphurous" Sakti: The Worship of Goddess Hingula in Baluchistan Francesco Brighenti, University of Hyderabad 3. From Iron to Sapphire: Indian Myths and Rituals about Saturn, the Implacable Lord of Celestial Spheres Monia Marchetto, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, and Manuel Hoefer, Venetian Academy of Indian Studies Section 2: Science and Health 4. Mineral Healing: Gemstone Remedies in Astrological and Medical Traditions Anthony Cerulli, Hobart & William Smith Colleges, and Caterina Guenzi, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales 5. Mercury Tonics (Rasayana) in Sanskrit Medical Literature Dagmar Wujastyk, University of Zurich 6. When Ngulchu is not Mercury: Tibetan Taxonomies of 'Metals' Barbara Gerke, Humboldt University of Berlin Section 3: Power and Devotion 7. In Search of the Sadhu's Stone: Metals and Gems as Therapeutic Technologies of Transformation in Vernacular Asceticism in North India Antoinette E. DeNapoli, University of Wyoming 8. Deg Tegh Fateh: Metal as Material and Metaphor in Sikh Tradition Eleanor Nesbitt, University of Warwick Section 4: Body and Embodiment 9. A Little Lipstick Goes a Long Way: Chit-chatting with Women in the Ramayana and Mahabharata Deeksha Shivakumar, Emory University 10. Ratna: A Buddhist World of Precious Things Mattia Salvini, Mahidol University, Thailand 11. Living Earth: Earth-bodied Beings in Jain Tradition Ana Bajzelj, University of Rajasthan