Podcast Summary:

New Books Network – Indian Religions

Episode: Amy L. Allocco and Xenia Zeiler, eds. – "Sweetening and Intensification: Currents Shaping Hindu Practices" (SUNY Press, 2025)
Host: Dr. Raj Balkaran
Date: November 13, 2025

Main Theme and Purpose

This episode centers on the conception, development, and key themes of the new edited volume, "Sweetening and Intensification: Currents Shaping Hindu Practices", published by SUNY Press (2025) and co-edited by Amy L. Allocco and Xenia Zeiler. The book examines shifting currents within Hindu religious practice and iconography, using the concepts of "sweetening" and "intensification" as analytical lenses. The discussion explores how these two paradigms reveal broader processes of transformation, adaptation, and negotiation within diverse Hindu contexts—both historical and contemporary—and underscores the volume’s breadth, contributors’ approaches, and the implications for scholarship and pedagogy.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Origin and Genesis of the Project

• The collaboration began when Xenia Zeiler invited Amy Allocco to Helsinki in 2019 for a lecture. They quickly realized shared research interests and conceptualized an innovative project around the dual paradigms of sweetening and intensification in Hinduism ([01:48–04:09]).
• Initial fieldwork in India was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to virtual events and panels (notably at the American Academy of Religion 2021 meeting), after which the scope expanded to a full edited volume with a diverse group of contributors ([01:48–04:09]).
• Quote:

  "We started to scheme about a collaboration and a project focusing on these converging and diverging themes of sweetening and intensification."
  — Amy Allocco [01:53]

2. Defining “Sweetening” and “Intensification”

• Sweetening refers to processes such as “softening,” “gentrification,” or “Sanskritization” of deities and rituals, often discussed with reference to goddesses, but the editors expand it beyond traditional paradigms ([05:11–08:37]).
• Intensification captures not only new or heightened forms of religious expression—sometimes around previously marginalized practices or deities—but also invigorated engagement in changing sociopolitical contexts ([05:11–08:37]).
• The editors intentionally kept definitions flexible, encouraging authors to explore both tendencies and their interplay in various ethnographic, textual, and visual contexts ([07:29–08:37]).
• Quote:

  "Sweetening in itself is a form of intensification, which wasn't clear to us right from the beginning. But that was one of the beautiful outcomes of this conversation."
  — Xenia Zeiler [07:53]

3. Structure of the Volume

• The book is organized into four parts to reflect the breadth of material:
  • Temples, Localities, and Deities
  • Ritual and Possession Performances
  • Pilgrimage and Festival Practices
  • Narrative and Visual Spaces (including new media and visual culture) ([09:50–11:20])
• The editorial approach accommodates diverse case studies spanning South Asia, the diaspora, and a variety of methodological and disciplinary perspectives ([11:20–13:31]).

4. Aims and Contributions of the Volume

• Explores how religious change operates on a spectrum—using "sweet," "neutral," and "intense" as metaphors—to describe ritual, aesthetic, and doctrinal transformations ([11:20–13:31]).
• Brings together fresh research and covers both major and lesser-known deities, practices, and traditions.
• Emphasizes multi-sited case studies and practical examples to demonstrate theories in action.

5. Intended Audience

• Scholars in Hindu studies, religion, anthropology, and related disciplines.
• Undergraduates and graduate students—individual chapters are particularly useful for teaching specialist themes ([13:46–15:13]).
• Specialists in regional traditions (e.g., Garhwal, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, etc.) will find relevant case studies ([13:46–15:13]).
• Quote:

  "I really think about this as a volume, of course, that scholars will gobble up and really enjoy, but also that undergraduates as well as graduate students will be able to make really great use out of."
  — Amy Allocco [13:46]

6. Further Reflections: Sweetening as Intensification

• The editors discuss how "sweetening" is not the opposite but rather a particular form of intensification—by making a deity's image more “palatable” or “mainstream,” tradition is both softened and amplified.
• Quote:

  "If you sweeten a deity and the mythology of a deity, for instance, ... that is a kind of intensification of a certain aspect, one which is favored over other, possibly less mainstream, often aspects..."
  — Xenia Zeiler [18:14]

7. Surprises, Insights, and Editorial Experience

• The conceptual framework’s broad applicability surprised the editors, and they were pleased to see contributors interpret sweetening/intensification through creative theoretical lenses (like using chaat—a street food—as a metaphor) ([21:27–25:12]).
• Even well-known deities or traditions appeared anew under this analytic lens ([22:55–25:12]).
• Quote:

  "Even traditions and deities about whom I think I knew quite a bit became really fresh with this new level of analysis or new layer of analysis applied to them."
  — Amy Allocco [24:46]

8. Representative Chapters and Case Studies

• The editors highlight chapters on both well-known and obscure deities and practices. Examples include:
  • The “rabies goddess” Hadkaimata (Terry Ganel, Gujarat)
  • Feral gods in Tamil Nadu (Indira Muhammad)
  • Dandanagaraja (Aqal Jasil, Garhwal, Himalayas)
  • Karumariyaman in Michigan (Tracy Pinchman)
  • Kali in contemporary visual and political contexts (Rachel Fell McDermott) ([27:37–31:03])
• These case studies illustrate the adaptability, shifting meanings, and ongoing change in Hindu practices, iconographies, and communities.

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On the definition process:

  "We realized that sweetening in itself is a form of intensification, which wasn't clear to us right from the beginning."
  — Xenia Zeiler [07:53]

• On the spectrum of religious change:

  "It tries to think through these changes on what we call a scale of sweet, neutral and intense. Right? The spiceification on some grounds, and in other cases, a softening, a kind of blending, gentrifying, etc."
  — Amy Allocco [11:23]

• On the volume’s coherence:

  "What I think is one of the more coherent volumes that I've ever been a part of. And I think that's also a really special element that emerged over the process."
  — Amy Allocco [24:56]

• On the diversity of content:

  "The sheer diversity of where and how this happens was one of the things which for me is ... a highlight in preparing this edited volume."
  — Xenia Zeiler [22:15]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Origin & Genesis: [01:41–04:44]
• Defining “Sweetening” and “Intensification”: [05:11–08:37]
• Structure of the Volume: [09:50–11:20]
• Aims & Contributions: [11:20–13:46]
• Intended Audience: [13:46–15:13]
• Sweetening vs. Intensification (Theoretical Refinement): [18:14–20:59]
• Editorial Surprises & Unity: [21:27–25:12]
• Representative Case Studies: [27:37–31:03]

Conclusion

The episode provides a rich, accessible entry point into contemporary Hindu studies, explaining how the twin concepts of sweetening and intensification help scholars and students alike make sense of both tradition and transformation within Hindu practice. Through an engaging back-and-forth, Allocco and Zeiler highlight the dynamism of Hindu traditions and the promise of their analytical framework, underscoring the volume’s value for both research and teaching. Special attention is paid to diversity (geographical, methodological, and thematic) and the collaborative achievement brought forth by the volume’s contributors.

Summary compiled by New Books Network Podcast Summarizer.