Odisha puppeteer chosen for Padma Shri gave puppetry its distinctive fashion

Had he listened to his father, a zamindar in Keonjhar district, then often known as princely state of Keonjhargarh, Maguni Charan Kuanr would maybe not been taking part in with puppets for the remainder of his life. Kuanr, 86, one among the many 4 from Odisha chosen for the Padma Shri award on the eve of Republic Day for being an exponent of the Kathi Kundhei nacha, would look ahead to hours when Makaradhwaja Jhar, an area fisherman and grasp puppeteer play puppets on a picket rod in his neighbourhood throughout his childhood.

Expectedly, his father obtained livid when he advised him his need to be a puppeteer like Jhar and barred the 20-year-old from doing something that involved puppetry. However Kuanr wouldn’t take heed to anybody and with the assistance of the carpenter who was making the picket puppets, he secretly met the grasp puppeteer and began studying the artwork from him.

“The puppets fascinated me and I used to be fairly eager to be taught taking part in the puppets. When the grasp handed away, he left no successor. I stood upto my father’s ire and of the orthodox society to carry out puppetry in public,” mentioned Kuanr, a day after the awards have been introduced.

Within the 50s, Ramalila Kandhei Nata that depicted a number of episodes of the epic Ramayana, was the preferred type of leisure for individuals in villages and in Keonjhar district. A whole bunch of troupes, each skilled and novice, introduced Ramalila Kandhei Nata in virtually all of the areas of the state. There have been a number of such troupes in Keonjhargarh, near Kuanra’s dwelling.

Regardless of disapproval at dwelling, Kuanr would sit via rehearsals within the night hours and purchase primary data in numerous features which facilitated him to turn out to be a member of the village Ramalila troupe that carried out Kathi kundhei nacha or rod puppetry.

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Made from wooden, the puppets in Kathi kundhei nacha measure between 12 and 18 inches in top and the higher physique is moved utilizing a rod, whereas the arms of the puppet are manipulated with strings hidden within the torso. Not like string puppets, the puppets of kathi kundhei nacha are manipulated from under, with the puppeteer crouching behind a curtain making it one of the intricate manipulation strategies compared to different types.

As Kuanr took up the career of puppetry and began his personal troupe Shri Viswakarma Kalakunja, his personal kith and kin handled him as a social outcast. However the risk didn’t imply something to him. He began transferring with a truck-load of articles, puppet bins with a contingent of 10-12 artists in numerous components of Odisha in addition to Bihar, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal.

During the last seven many years, Kuanr has created his personal puppets, designed costumes and narrated the performs whereas experimenting with completely different sizes of puppets. He additionally used painted backdrops and launched social themes into the standard efficiency materials. To date, he has developed 20 performs by incorporating practically 300 characters and in addition performs primarily based on social points like household planning. For his achievement he was awarded the Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Kabi Samrat Upendra Bhanja Samman from Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi in addition to the Kendriya Sangeet Natak Akademi award.

“Maguni Kuanr is a flexible genius who reworked puppetry and gave it his personal distinct contact. He made it entertaining by making the puppets greater whereas elaborately carving, portray and dressing these with correct costumes. He influenced many younger individuals to take up puppetry as their career,” mentioned famous artwork critic Shyamhari Chakra. By the way, each of Kuanr’s sons give up puppetry as they didn’t discover it sustainable whereas a number of different disciples converted to different vocations for survival.