Maguni Charan Kuanr

Maguni Charan Kuanr was a puppeteer from Keonjhar whose rod puppet shows were loved in Odisha and beyond. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2023 in the field of art, from Odisha ^[1].

Learning the strings

Kuanr was born on 12 February 1937 ^[2]. At 15 he learned puppetry from Guru Makardhwaja Behera, and he formed his own troupe, Utkal Biswakarma Kalakunja, which performed across the country ^[2].

Keeping the puppets dancing

Money was a constant struggle ^[2]. His wife suffered from heart disease, and spending what he had on his troupe left too little for her treatment; he lost her, but kept the art going ^[2].

In the 1980s, with the help of the Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi, he staged his first official show, Ravan Baddha, at Rabindra Mandap in Bhubaneswar ^[2]. After that he performed regularly across Odisha and India, mostly for the state and central Sangeet Natak Akademis, in cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Guwahati and Bhopal, at Santiniketan, and at an international puppet show in Bangalore ^[2].

He made the puppets himself and wrote their scripts and dialogue ^[2]. He was also a wood carver, painter, clay image maker and actor ^[2]. Even in his late eighties he was still making puppets and performing ^[2].

He received the Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1984, the central Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2004 and the state’s Kabi Samrat Upendra Bhanja Samman in 2012 ^[2]. He died at his home in Keonjhar on 1 June 2024, aged 88 ^[3].