diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/core/ElasticsearchOperations.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/core/ElasticsearchOperations.java
index 303025296..e2dce69f0 100755
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/core/ElasticsearchOperations.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/core/ElasticsearchOperations.java
@@ -69,6 +69,24 @@ public interface ElasticsearchOperations {
 	 */
 	<T> boolean putMapping(Class<T> clazz);
 
+	/**
+	 * Create mapping for a given indexName and type
+	 *
+	 * @param indexName
+	 * @param type
+	 * @param mappings
+	 */
+	boolean putMapping(String indexName, String type, Object mappings);
+
+	/**
+	 * Create mapping for a class
+	 *
+	 * @param clazz
+	 * @param mappings
+	 */
+	<T> boolean putMapping(Class<T> clazz, Object mappings);
+
+
 	/**
 	 * Get mapping for a class
 	 *
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/core/ElasticsearchTemplate.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/core/ElasticsearchTemplate.java
index 4c5f8f320..dda614e68 100755
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/core/ElasticsearchTemplate.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/core/ElasticsearchTemplate.java
@@ -139,16 +139,35 @@ public class ElasticsearchTemplate implements ElasticsearchOperations {
 	@Override
 	public <T> boolean putMapping(Class<T> clazz) {
 		ElasticsearchPersistentEntity<T> persistentEntity = getPersistentEntityFor(clazz);
-		PutMappingRequestBuilder requestBuilder = client.admin().indices()
-				.preparePutMapping(persistentEntity.getIndexName()).setType(persistentEntity.getIndexType());
-
+		XContentBuilder xContentBuilder = null;
 		try {
-			XContentBuilder xContentBuilder = buildMapping(clazz, persistentEntity.getIndexType(), persistentEntity
+			xContentBuilder = buildMapping(clazz, persistentEntity.getIndexType(), persistentEntity
 					.getIdProperty().getFieldName(), persistentEntity.getParentType());
-			return requestBuilder.setSource(xContentBuilder).execute().actionGet().isAcknowledged();
 		} catch (Exception e) {
 			throw new ElasticsearchException("Failed to build mapping for " + clazz.getSimpleName(), e);
 		}
+		return putMapping(clazz, xContentBuilder);
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public <T> boolean putMapping(Class<T> clazz, Object mapping) {
+		return putMapping(getPersistentEntityFor(clazz).getIndexName(), getPersistentEntityFor(clazz).getIndexType(), mapping);
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public boolean putMapping(String indexName, String type, Object mapping) {
+		Assert.notNull(indexName, "No index defined for putMapping()");
+		Assert.notNull(type, "No type defined for putMapping()");
+		PutMappingRequestBuilder requestBuilder = client.admin().indices()
+				.preparePutMapping(indexName).setType(type);
+		if (mapping instanceof String) {
+			requestBuilder.setSource(String.valueOf(mapping));
+		} else if (mapping instanceof Map) {
+			requestBuilder.setSource((Map) mapping);
+		} else if (mapping instanceof XContentBuilder) {
+			requestBuilder.setSource((XContentBuilder) mapping);
+		}
+		return requestBuilder.execute().actionGet().isAcknowledged();
 	}
 
 	@Override
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/repositories/setting/SettingEntityRepositoryTest.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/repositories/setting/SettingEntityRepositoryTest.java
index 069f18476..03f5746dc 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/repositories/setting/SettingEntityRepositoryTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/repositories/setting/SettingEntityRepositoryTest.java
@@ -123,4 +123,29 @@ public class SettingEntityRepositoryTest {
 		assertThat(((String) ((Map) properties.get("email")).get("type")), is("string"));
 		assertThat((String) ((Map)properties.get("email")).get("analyzer"), is("emailAnalyzer"));
 	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void shouldCreateMappingWithSpecifiedMappings() {
+		//given
+		elasticsearchTemplate.deleteIndex(SettingEntity.class);
+		elasticsearchTemplate.createIndex(SettingEntity.class);
+		elasticsearchTemplate.refresh(SettingEntity.class, true);
+		//when
+		String mappings = "{\n" +
+				"    \"test-setting-type\" : {\n" +
+				"        \"properties\" : {\n" +
+				"            \"email\" : {\"type\" : \"string\", \"analyzer\" : \"emailAnalyzer\" }\n" +
+				"        }\n" +
+				"    }\n" +
+				"}";
+		elasticsearchTemplate.putMapping(SettingEntity.class, mappings);
+		elasticsearchTemplate.refresh(SettingEntity.class, true);
+		//then
+		Map mapping = elasticsearchTemplate.getMapping(SettingEntity.class);
+		Map properties = (Map) mapping.get("properties");
+		assertThat(mapping, is(notNullValue()));
+		assertThat(properties, is(notNullValue()));
+		assertThat(((String) ((Map) properties.get("email")).get("type")), is("string"));
+		assertThat((String) ((Map)properties.get("email")).get("analyzer"), is("emailAnalyzer"));
+	}
 }