Born on 22 February 1953 in Aralikatte village of the Chikkamagaluru district of Karnataka, A.R.
Dattatreya obtained his Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education Degrees from Mysore University,
and Master of Arts and Master of Education degrees from Bangalore University. He learned puppetry
under his Guru Ranganatha Rao.
He has worked with playwrights and senior theatre persons like Parvatha Vani and Dr B.S. Narayana
Rao both in Kannada and Sanskrit languages. As he excelled in the field of theatre, he got inspired to
write his own plays focusing on current social problems, and including mythological characters. He
has highlighted problems such as pollution, deforestation, and adulteration in his plays. Shri
Dattatreya established his own puppet theatre called ‘Putthali Kalaranga’, evolving a new style in
the field of puppet theatre called ‘Mudrika Style’. He has participated in several puppet festivals and
seminars in India and abroad. His puppets weigh around 8 to 10 kg, ornamented with traditional
sarees.
For his services to the art of puppetry, Shri Dattatreya has been bestowed with several awards
including the Karnataka Janapadha Yakshagana Academy Award. He has also been honoured by the
Directorate of State Educational Research & Training for using the Puppetry as an Educational Aid.
The prestigious Centre for Cultural Research and Training bestowed the Teachers Award for 1996,
and the best teacher award for 2004 was given to him by the Ministry of Human Resource
Development.
Shri A.R. Dattatreya receives the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for his contribution to the art of
puppetry of Karnataka.