Barack Obama has it: political charisma. This term turns up in the public debate all the time, but when we look more closely it actually hides more than it reveals. This is why the authors investigate how charisma works.

The Münchener Indologische Zeitschrift (MIZ) contributes to brightening up the academic world: it is the first journal on Indology that appears in colour. It offers a platform for Indological research as well as for interdisciplinary exchange with neighbouring fields of study, such as religious studies, philosophy, and anthropology. Besides contributions in unusual categories like “Photo Reportage”, “Literary Glances & Gleanings” and “The Unknown Deity”, there are more traditional scholarly articles and book reviews, broadening the reader’s horizon and directing the reader towards perspectives for new research in the still little understood, many-facetted cultural diversity of South Asia. This second issue offers, amongst many other things, a look into the history of Nyaya thinking, a glance into Maithili, the language of Bihar, and the history of the image of India in 19th century Germany: cultural im- pressions of a Bavarian missionary in North India. Another focus is on research in Jainism: The reader of this volume becomes acquainted with a new per- spective on Adinatha, the first Jaina Tirthankara, and as a highlight there is a photo essay on the Mahamastakabhisheka of Dharmasthala, one of the most spectacular rituals in Jainism.