Keonjhar: Odisha has been a treasure trove of Indian heritage. But many traditional arts are on the verge of extinction owing to administrative apathy.
Octogenarian Maguni Charan Kuanr of Keonjhar has been a pioneer in developing the ancient art of rod puppetry. He successfully transformed the combination of dolls and rods into talking and moving rod puppets. But this winner of many awards, including the Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi Award of 1983-84, has not found a saviour for his dying art.
The kathi kandhei or rod puppetry is still alive due to the efforts of Maguni, who fought against odds to keep it alive. He now fears that the folk art is on its last legs.
Odisha has the distinction of being the only region in the world that has a legacy in four kinds of puppetry – rod puppetry or kathi kandhei, string puppetry or suta kandhei, shadow puppetry or ravana chhaya and glove puppetry or sakhi kandhei.
Maguni, the only exponent in the state of rod puppetry, has been displaying his art for around 50 years. He has composed around 20 productions for his troupe, Utkal Biswakarma Kalakunja.
“My troupe has performed all over the state and outside many times. But awards and appreciations alone cannot save rod puppetry,” said Maguni.
“The absence of financial support and proper forums to promote the art is keeping away the young from puppetry. This could lead to the extinction of the traditional art,” he said.
Puppetry used to be performed in villages by artistes from lesser-privileged communities. But the artistic excellence of these puppeteers pulled Maguni, who learnt the art from his guru Makaradhwaja Jhara. “The task of designing puppetry progarammes for today’s audiences is quite tough,” he said.
Maguni believes that new elements are needed to revive the art. “When I was a kid the shows used to be serious with mythological episodes and folk stories. But I felt there could be a humorous angle too. That is what the audience loves,” he said.
The puppeteers, however, have much to complain about the authorities.
“The government has not done anything to promote puppetry. Just declaring it as a ‘dying art’ and holding a festival is illogical. The Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi is not preserving, but destroying the art. They are not even supporting artistes if we apply for Central grants,” he said.
Maguni has a dream project to use paper instead of wood to make puppets as paper puppets look more attractive than wooden ones. But for this he needs around Rs 2.5 lakh.
“The blueprint is ready. I need the government’s help to start my show with new puppets. Puppet shows based on social issues will popularise this art of Odisha nationally and globally,” Maguni said.