The Narratogogy of Durga Puja: Conceptualising the Pedagogical Practices of Festival, Myth and Narrative

Publication Details

Publication Date

10/10/2026

Volume / Issue

Vol 1, Issue 5 (2026)

Article No.

091

Journal

British Journal of Contemporary Research

DOI

https://doi.org/10.67693/BJCR-5LR9TICB

Received

30 Sep 2026

Views

117

Downloads

34

Abstract

Durga Puja is commonly understood as a religious and cultural festival associated with the worship of Goddess Durga. However, its educational significance extends beyond devotional practice. The festival constitutes a complex cultural learning environment in which mythology, narrative, ritual, visual symbolism, artistic production, collective participation, intergenerational communication and social interaction converge. This paper introduces the concept of Narratogogy to conceptualise this distinctive pedagogical phenomenon. Narratogogy is proposed here as a culturally situated mode of learning in which individuals and communities acquire, negotiate, reinterpret and transmit knowledge through narratives, myths, symbols, performances and participatory experiences. From this perspective, Durga Puja can be interpreted as a living pedagogical ecology rather than simply a ceremonial event. The paper develops a conceptual model in which myth becomes narrative, narrative becomes symbol, symbol becomes ritual, ritual generates participation, participation stimulates interpretation, and interpretation contributes to cultural learning. It further examines the festival through the perspectives of situated learning, experiential learning, social learning, cultural-historical theory, narrative cognition and informal education. Particular attention is given to the pedagogical role of the Durga narrative, the visual architecture of the idol, pandal-based cultural environments, intergenerational transmission, collective memory and contemporary technological transformations. The paper argues that the educational significance of Durga Puja lies not merely in what the festival communicates but in how cultural knowledge is experienced, reconstructed and narrated by its participants. Narratogogy consequently provides a conceptual bridge between mythology, cultural practice and contemporary learning sciences.

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This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License . Free to read, share, and adapt with attribution.