India celebrates National Sports Day on 29th August to commemorate the birth anniversary of hockey legend, Major Dhyan Chand. The day is also dedicated to the nations’ sports heroes and champions, honoring their contribution and dedication towards bringing laurels to the country.
With the aim to raise awareness about the values of sports: discipline, perseverance, sportsman spirit, teamwork, and to encourage public in large to take up sports and make it an integral part of their lives while emphasizing on the importance of being fit and healthy.
First National Sports Day was celebrated in India on August 29, 2012. Widely known as the ‘Hockey Wizard’ and ‘The Magician’, Major Dhyan Chand was born on August 29, 1905, and National Sports Day is marked to celebrate his birthday.
Major Dhyan Chand
Hockey player Major Dhyan Chand was a member of the Indian Men’s Hockey team. Widely known as the ‘Wizard of Hockey’, Dhayan Chand was born in Allahabad (Prayagraj) in Uttar Pradesh on August 29, 1905. He rose to prominence in the pre-independence period.
Star of the Indian hockey team, he played an important role in helping India complete their first hat-trick of Olympic gold medals with wins at the 1928, 1932 and 1936 Summer Olympics.
While he retired as a Major in the Punjab Regiment of the Indian Army in 1956, the Indian government went on to confer the Padma Bhushan – the third-highest civilian award – the same year.