Odisha puppeteer chosen for Padma Shri gave puppetry its distinctive style

Odisha’s master puppeteer Maguni Charan Kuanr was treated as a social outcast when he took up the profession of puppetry decades ago

Had he listened to his father, a zamindar in Keonjhar district, then known as princely state of Keonjhargarh, Maguni Charan Kuanr would perhaps not been playing with puppets for the rest of his life. Kuanr, 86, one among the four from Odisha chosen for the Padma Shri award on the eve of Republic Day for being an exponent of the Kathi Kundhei nacha, would watch for hours when Makaradhwaja Jhar, a local fisherman and master puppeteer play puppets on a wooden rod in his neighbourhood during his childhood.

Maguni Charan Kuanr (File Photo)

Expectedly, his father got furious when he told him his desire to be a puppeteer like Jhar and barred the 20-year-old from doing anything that concerned puppetry. But Kuanr would not listen to anyone and with the help of the carpenter who was making the wooden puppets, he secretly met the master puppeteer and started learning the art from him.

“The puppets fascinated me and I was quite keen to learn playing the puppets. When the master passed away, he left no successor. I stood upto my father’s ire and of the orthodox society to perform puppetry in public,” said Kuanr, a day after the awards were announced.

In the 50s, Ramalila Kandhei Nata that depicted several episodes of the epic Ramayana, was the most popular form of entertainment for people in villages and in Keonjhar district. Hundreds of troupes, both professional and amateur, presented Ramalila Kandhei Nata in almost all the regions of the state. There were a few such troupes in Keonjhargarh, close to Kuanra’s home.

Despite disapproval at home, Kuanr would sit through rehearsals in the evening hours and acquire basic knowledge in different aspects which facilitated him to become a member of the village Ramalila troupe that performed Kathi kundhei nacha or rod puppetry.

Made of wood, the puppets in Kathi kundhei nacha measure between 12 and 18 inches in height and the upper body is moved using a rod, while the arms of the puppet are manipulated with strings hidden in the torso. Unlike string puppets, the puppets of kathi kundhei nacha are manipulated from below, with the puppeteer crouching behind a curtain making it one of the most intricate manipulation techniques in comparison to other forms.

As Kuanr took up the profession of puppetry and started his own troupe Shri Viswakarma Kalakunja, his own kith and kin treated him as a social outcast. But the threat did not mean anything to him. He started moving with a truck-load of articles, puppet boxes with a contingent of 10-12 artists in different parts of Odisha as well as Bihar, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal.

Over the last seven decades, Kuanr has created his own puppets, designed costumes and narrated the plays while experimenting with different sizes of puppets. He also used painted backdrops and introduced social themes into the traditional performance material. So far, he has developed 20 plays by incorporating nearly 300 characters and also plays based on social issues like family planning. For his achievement he was awarded the Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Kabi Samrat Upendra Bhanja Samman from Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi as well as the Kendriya Sangeet Natak Akademi award.

“Maguni Kuanr is a versatile genius who transformed puppetry and gave it his own distinct touch. He made it entertaining by making the puppets bigger while elaborately carving, painting and dressing those with proper costumes. He influenced many young people to take up puppetry as their profession,” said noted art critic Shyamhari Chakra. Incidentally, both of Kuanr’s sons quit puppetry as they did not find it sustainable while several other disciples switched over to other vocations for survival.