BHUBANESWAR: Veteran puppeteer and Kathi Kandhei Nacha (rod puppetry) exponent Maguni Charan Kuanr passed away at the age of 87 at Keonjhar on Saturday.
Kuanr was honoured with the highest civilian award Padma Shri last year by the President of India Droupadi Murmu for promoting Kathi Kandhei Nacha in Odisha and beyond. He was suffering from age related ailments for some time.
Born in 1937 in Keonjhar, Kuanr founded the Utkal Biswakarma Kalakunja Kandhei Nacha troupe at Keonjhar. He is credited to have developed over 20 puppetry productions with 300 characters based on mythological stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata.
He had changed Kathi Kandhei Nacha from a crude puppetry style to a polished art form. He not only handled puppets but also created them, crafted their costumes, wrote screenplays, developed music for his shows, designed stages and lent background scores for his characters. He was the narrator of over 500 puppetry plays that he staged across the country.
Fighting against his own family and a conservative society, Kuanr decided to pursue Kathi Kandhei Nacha from a young age by observing the fishermen (SC) community who also played puppets for a living. Belonging to an upper caste, his family had objected to his decision but he started secretly learning the craft from master puppeteer Makaradhwaja Jharaa who had no heir. When Makaradhwaja passed away, Kuanr, in his early 20s then, decided to perform rod puppetry in public.
Considered a dying craft then, he revived the art form by adding several new elements to it. He had also trained a large number of youths in the craft. His work has been documented by various art agencies in India and abroad. Apart from the Padma Shri, Kuanr had received the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 2004 and several other awards.
Condolences poured in from all quarters. President Murmu said she was deeply saddened by Kuanr’s demise. “The footprints he left will always be a source of inspiration,” she said. Governor Raghubir Das also condoled Kuanr’s death and said he took rod puppetry to the world stage and gave it a unique identity.
In his condolence message, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said that Guru Maguni Kuanr played an important role in reviving the endangered Kandhei Nach tradition of Odisha. The passing away of Guru Kuanr, the recipient of many awards and honours, is an irreparable loss to the traditional art world of Odisha.
Naveen further informed that Kuanr’s mortal remains will be consigned to flames with full State honours. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said Kuanr’s contribution and commitment towards preserving the ancient art form cannot be matched. His contribution towards rod puppetry will always be remembered, Pradhan posted on X.