Heinrich von Stietencron has been Professor of Indology and Comparative History of Religion (173-98) at the University of Tuebingen. He has written widely (mostly in German), on the epics and the Puranas, on temple symbolism and iconography, and on religious practice and social structure. He has devoted many years to field research in Orissa, documenting the many temples and studying the manuscript traditions of the region. He is chief editor of the annotated Epic and Puranic Bibliography (1992). He was awarded the Padma Shree in 2004, the only foreign scholar to have received this honour.