Contemporary research on Hinduism has thrown up a number of microstudies and new, overall theories giving rise to various questions: Do conventional notions of Hinduism need to be reformulated on the basis of new evidence and modern theories? Is it prudent to interpret Hinduism without an inter-disciplinary and contextual approach? In short, what does Hinduism mean? The above issues were discussed at the IXth European Conference of Modern South Asian Studies in Heidelberg, Germany. This volume contains thirteen papers presented for discussion there -- discussions which were lively and thought provoking -- and four additional contributions. The papers reflect a wide variety of opinions on what Hindusim means and are a distinct contribution to our understanding of Hinduism which cannot be forced into watertight inflexible categories.