NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Physical Education Khel Praveen Chapter 2 History and Culture of Physical Education in India

Quick Links:

• Chapter 2 Exercises Solutions
• Very Short Answer Type Questions
• Short Answer Type Questions
• Long Answer Type Questions

Download Tiwari Academy Learning App to study Class 9 Art Madhurima in phone.

The chapter of Khel Praveen draws on the Vedas, the Rāmāyaṇa, the Mahābhārata, the Charaka Saṁhitā and the Arthaśhāstra to show how India has always valued the healthy body as the foundation of a meaningful life. From wrestling in ancient akhāḍās to the founding of modern physical education colleges, this chapter connects India’s glorious past to the physical education curriculum of today.

Class 9 Arts Madhurima Chapter 2 Question Answer

Answer:
The words promoted by the Charaka-saṁhitā are:
Exercise and rest, lightness of body and fatigue and recovery.

Answer:
I would encircle Kerala on the map of India. Popular games played there include football, volleyball, boat racing, athletics, and Kalaripayattu. Some traditional games and sports have different names and styles in different states across the country.
Geographic terrain affects the type of sports played in a region. Kerala has many rivers, backwaters, and coastal areas, so water sports and boat races are very popular there. The climate and natural surroundings also support outdoor games like football and athletics.
Geographic terrain affects the type of sports played in a region. In hilly areas, people prefer trekking, archery, and mountain sports. In coastal areas, water sports and boat races are common. In plains, games like cricket, hockey, and Kabaddi are more popular because there is enough open land for playing.

Answer:

1. “लाघवं कर्मसामर्थ्यं स्थैर्यं दुःखसहिष्णुता ।
   दोषक्षयोऽग्निवृद्धिश्च व्यायामादुपजायते ॥”
   — Charaka-saṁhitā
2. “शरीरमाद्यं खलु धर्मसाधनम् ।”
   — Kumārasambhavam by Kālidāsa
3. “शरीरचेष्टा या चेष्टा स्थैर्यार्था बलवर्धिनी ।”
   — Charaka-saṁhitā
4. “नायमात्मा बलहीनेन लभ्यः ।”
   — Kaṭhopaniṣhad

NCERT Class 9 Khel Praveen Chapter 2 Very Short Answer Type Questions with Explanation.

1. What is the meaning of the śloka by Kālidāsa that opens Chapter 2?
   Answer:
   “Śharīram-ādyaṁ khalu dharma-sādhanam” means that this body is surely the foremost instrument of doing good deeds.
2. What does the Ṛigveda indicate about physical activity in ancient India?
   Answer:
   The Ṛigveda describes chariot races and wrestling, showing that courage, endurance and combat ability were highly valued in early society.
3. What does the Atharvaveda say about physical health and strength?
   Answer:
   The Atharvaveda emphasises health, bodily strength (bala), healing, and protection from disease, reflecting early awareness of physical well-being.
4. What role did the Yajurveda play in physical education?
   Answer:
   The Yajurveda describes rituals involving precise body movements, balance, and bodily steadiness, showing physical discipline was important in religious life.
5. What is the chariot metaphor from the Kaṭhopaniṣhad?
   Answer:
   It depicts the body as a chariot, mind as reins, intellect as driver, and senses as horses, showing control over body is essential for wisdom.
6. What does the Arthaśhāstra say about physical fitness?
   Answer:
   The Arthaśhāstra by Kauṭilya (4th century BCE) describes physical discipline, regular routine, and fitness especially for rulers, soldiers, and officials.
7. What is vyāyāma according to ancient Indian knowledge?
   Answer:
   Vyāyāma refers to any physical activity that benefits the body, improves stability, and increases strength, but must be practised in moderation.
8. What does the Suśhruta Saṁhitā say about exercise?
   Answer:
   The Suśhruta Saṁhitā (3rd–6th century CE) emphasises moderate exercise for good health and instructs it should be done only up to half one’s capacity.
9. What is Mallakhamb and where is it first mentioned?
   Answer:
   Mallakhamb is a unique Indian sport where athletes perform acrobatic poses on a wooden pole, first mentioned in the Mānasollāsa (12th century CE).
10. What is malla-yuddha and where was it practised?
    Answer:
    Malla-yuddha means wrestling. It was practised in akhāḍās (wrestling schools) in northern, central, and western regions of India.
11. What did the Hunter Commission of 1882 recommend for schools?
    Answer:
    The Hunter Commission (Indian Education Commission 1882) recommended that schools should encourage native games, gymnastics, drills, and other physical exercises.
12. Who founded the YMCA College of Physical Education and when?
    Answer:
    Harry Crowe Buck, an American educator, founded the YMCA College of Physical Education in Madras in 1920, India’s first professional physical education college.
13. Who is called the “grandfather of Gymnastics” and why?
    Answer:
    GutsMuths (Germany) is called the “grandfather of Gymnastics” for publishing Gymnastics for Youth in 1793, designing exercises and games for children.
14. What was the Sargent Report of 1944?
    Answer:
    The Sargent Report (1944) made physical education compulsory in all schools in India, laying the groundwork for it to become an integral part of education.
15. What did the Charaka Saṁhitā say about the effects of regular exercise?
    Answer:
    According to Āchārya Charaka, regular exercise makes the body light, strong, stable and hardworking, and improves pain tolerance and metabolism.

NCERT Class 9 Khel Praveen Chapter 2 Short Answer Type Questions with Explanation.

1. How does Chapter 2 show that India’s concept of education was always holistic?
   Answer:
   Chapter 2 explains that Indian education was never limited to reading and writing. Students were trained to develop body and mind together through physical training, games, martial arts and yoga – evidenced in the Vedas, epics, Ayurveda and archaeological findings.
2. What do the rock paintings of Bhimbetka reveal about prehistoric physical activity in India?
   Answer:
   The UNESCO World Heritage rock paintings at Bhimbetka depict hunting scenes, weapon use and collective group movements. These show that physical activity – requiring strength, endurance, coordination and teamwork – was central to daily life and social organisation in prehistoric India.
3. What was the nature of physical activity during the Sindhu-Sarasvatī civilisation?
   Answer:
   Physical activity in the Sindhu-Sarasvatī civilisation was linked to agriculture, construction, craftwork, and managing water systems. Structures like the Great Bath of Mohenjo-Daro and reservoirs at Dholavira show the importance of cleanliness, movement and community effort in daily life.
4. How did the Epic period (Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata) shape physical education in ancient India?
   Answer:
   During the Epic period, physical training became more organised. The Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata describe how students trained in archery, mace fighting, horse and chariot riding under a Guru in gurukulas – linking physical education with discipline, courage, and moral values.
5. What was the contribution of medieval physical culture to Indian sports heritage?
   Answer:
   The medieval period gave India important physical traditions. The Malla-purāṇa (13th century CE) described 16 wrestling exercises. The Mānasollāsa (12th century CE) first mentioned Mallakhamb. Wrestling in akhāḍās – with daṇḍs, baiṭhaks and weight training – became a community sport strengthening social bonds.
6. What were the key contributions of GutsMuths, Friedrich Ludwig Jahn and Per Henrik Ling to global physical education?
   Answer:
   GutsMuths published Gymnastics for Youth (1793) designing exercises for children. Friedrich Ludwig Jahn promoted organised gymnastics (Turnen) for discipline and national pride (1816). Per Henrik Ling developed a Swedish gymnastics system combining medical, military and educational training – all three shaped modern physical education globally.
7. How did the HVPM and YMCA College contribute to physical education in colonial India?
   Answer:
   The Hanuman Vyayam Prasarak Mandal (HVPM), founded in 1914 in Amravati, trained instructors in traditional Indian physical activities. The YMCA College of Physical Education in Madras (1920), founded by Harry Crowe Buck, became India’s first professional physical education college, marking a major institutional milestone.
8. What is kalaripayaṭṭu and what does it represent in the history of Indian physical education?
   Answer:
   Kalaripayaṭṭu is a systematic martial art from South India practised in spaces called kalari. It focused on flexibility, balance, strength, agility and weapon training. It represents the regional diversity of India’s physical culture traditions and is one of the world’s oldest martial arts.
9. What does the Mānasollāsa tell us about the importance of physical activity in medieval India?
   Answer:
   The Mānasollāsa, written in the 12th century CE by King Someśhvara III, is the first text to formally mention Mallakhamb as a distinct Indian sport. The royal patronage given to this activity shows how highly physical culture was valued even at the level of kings and courts.
10. How did independent India build its physical education institutions after 1947?
    Answer:
    After independence, India took systematic steps: NCC was founded in 1948, the Central Advisory Board on Physical Education in 1950, Lakshmibai College of Physical Education (Gwalior) in 1957 and NIS in 1961. NEP 2020 and NCF-SE 2023 further strengthened physical education as a compulsory curricular subject in all schools.

NCERT Class 9 Khel Praveen Chapter 2 Long Answer Type Questions with Explanation.

Answer:
The history of physical education in India is as old as Indian civilisation itself. In the Vedic period, physical training was deeply embedded in daily life and religious practice. The Ṛigveda describes chariot races and wrestling; the Atharvaveda highlights bows and arrows; the Yajurveda emphasises bodily discipline in rituals; and the Sāmaveda connects controlled breathing and posture with chanting. The Upaniṣhads (800–200 BCE) gave a spiritual dimension to physical strength, describing the body as a chariot that must be controlled.
During the Epic period, the Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata showed how gurukulas provided organised physical training — archery, mace fighting and chariot riding — under the guidance of a Guru. The early Classical period saw the Arthaśhāstra prescribe physical fitness for rulers and soldiers, while the Charaka Saṁhitā and Suśhruta Saṁhitā provided the first scientific understanding of exercise and its benefits. The medieval period gave India Mallakhamb (Mānasollāsa, 12th century CE), 16 types of wrestling (Malla-purāṇa, 13th century CE) and the community sport culture of akhāḍās — all of which showed that physical culture in India was rich, diverse and deeply rooted in both tradition and community life.

Answer:
Ancient Indian Ayurvedic texts made remarkable contributions to the scientific understanding of physical exercise centuries before modern sports science. The Charaka Saṁhitā (1st–2nd century CE) — a foundational text of Ayurveda — explains that vyāyāma (exercise) means any physical activity of the body that improves stability and increases strength. It stresses that exercise must always be done in moderation and never excessively.
According to Āchārya Charaka, regular exercise makes the body light, strong, stable and hardworking. It improves pain tolerance, helps balance doṣhas and strengthens digestion and metabolism. Importantly, Charaka highlighted the need for balance between activity and rest — showing an early scientific understanding of fatigue and recovery that is very similar to modern concepts of rest and recuperation in sports training.
The Suśhruta Saṁhitā (3rd–6th century CE) went further by specifically instructing that exercise should only be done up to half of one’s full capacity, making it the first known text to recommend a scientific approach to exercise intensity. Together, these texts show that ancient India had a sophisticated, evidence-based understanding of exercise, health, and physical well-being — long before the term “physical education” even existed in the modern world.

Answer:
The colonial period brought a dramatic shift in how physical education was treated in India. When the British introduced modern schooling through Wood’s Despatch of 1854, their focus was entirely on literary and academic subjects. Physical education received no mention or formal status. However, a positive change came with the Indian Education Commission of 1882 — also called the Hunter Commission — which recommended that schools should encourage native games, gymnastics, drills and other exercises. British sports like cricket, hockey and football entered Indian schools and clubs during this period, often patronised by rulers like the Maharaja of Patiala.

Traditional games and wrestling continued outside the school system. In 1914, the Hanuman Vyayam Prasarak Mandal (HVPM) was founded in Amravati by the Vaidya brothers — starting as an akhāḍā and evolving into a major institution for training instructors in traditional Indian physical activities. In 1920, Harry Crowe Buck founded the YMCA College of Physical Education in Madras — India’s first professional physical education college. More colleges followed in Hyderabad, Lucknow and Bombay during the 1930s. The Sargent Report of 1944 finally made physical education compulsory in all schools. The All India Physical Education Conference in Amravati in 1946 brought together educators from across the country, setting the stage for physical education to become a formal and respected part of Indian schooling after independence.

Answer:
While India had its own rich tradition of physical culture, the modern formal subject of physical education as we know it today developed significantly through European and American contributions in the 18th and 19th centuries. The term “physical education” first appeared in English in 1748 in a translation of a French book — signalling that by the mid-1700s, Europeans had begun to recognise training the body as an important educational goal. In Germany, Johann Christoph Friedrich GutsMuths — often called the “grandfather of Gymnastics” — published Gymnastics for Youth in 1793, designing structured exercises and games for children as part of their overall development.
Another German, Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, wrote Die deutsche Turnkunst in 1816, promoting Turnen or organised gymnastics to build discipline, physical strength, and national pride among the youth. In Sweden, Per Henrik Ling developed a comprehensive system of gymnastics that combined medical, military and educational elements — a system that later influenced military drills and even modern physiotherapy exercises. These European ideas soon crossed the Atlantic. In 1825, Charles Beck, a German educator who had moved to America, introduced gymnastics at the Round Hill School in Massachusetts and established the first school gymnasium in the United States.
In 1828, he translated Jahn’s work into English as ‘Treatise on Gymnasticks’, using the term physical education in the introduction and helping to popularise the idea that physical training belongs in every school. By the mid-19th century, gymnastics, games, and drills had become a regular part of school timetables across Europe and America, laying the global foundation for the subject of physical education as it is taught in schools worldwide today.

Answer:
After India became independent in 1947, the country took a series of systematic and progressive steps to establish physical education as a recognised and important part of school education. In 1948, the Tara Chand Committee led to the founding of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) to build discipline and fitness among youth. In 1950, the Central Advisory Board on Physical Education was created to provide national-level guidance.
In 1957, the Lakshmibai College of Physical Education in Gwalior was founded — one of India’s most pioneering institutions for physical education training. In 1961, the National Institute of Sports (NIS) was established to develop professional coaches and advance sports excellence in the country. The Kothari Commission of 1964 took a landmark position by deciding that physical education should be treated as an essential part of general education, linked not just to athletics but to health, social, moral and spiritual development.
The National Policy on Education (1986) directed that schools should spend about 8–10 percent of teaching time on physical and health education. The National Curriculum Framework of 2005 emphasised that sports and yoga should be seen as part of learning and that every school day must include time for physical activity. National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 gave special importance to fitness, yoga and sports as part of the core curriculum, calling for equal focus on academics, arts, vocational training and physical education.
The National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage (NCF-FS) 2022 emphasised physical education as vital for holistic child development from the earliest years. Finally, the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023 directed that health and physical education should be treated as a full curricular area at the Secondary Stage up to Grade 10, integrating traditional Indian games alongside modern sports and linking daily physical activity to life skills, values and overall well-being. This unbroken chain of milestones shows that independent India has progressively recognised and strengthened physical education as a core pillar of student development.