History

Maharashtriya Mandal, Pune, established in 1924 by the Late Shri. Shivarampant Damle was the first step towards achieving the larger goal envisaged by him for youth in the state of Maharashtra. This goal was to nurture the youth to become physically and mentally healthy, strong, motivated, spirited and addiction-free. Further development of the youth into self-righteous and proud citizens of India was foreseen as a logical conclusion of the primary goal. To achieve this, it was imperative to create facilities dedicated and committed to teach and groom younger minds in mental and physical studies.

The idea of setting up a college for physical education was born and government permission for this establishment was also obtained in 1932. However, it took 45 long years before the college was finally established in 1977. During the interim period of these forty-five years, the Mandal offered its services in preparing physically fit youth in various capacities. It offered free training to school going children to get physically fit in pre and post independence years. In the calling for the armed recruits in India’s participation for World War II, the Mandal trained people for receiving short commission. It also held special coaching classes for NDA entrance exams.

Between 1963 and 1970, the Mandal also set up various schools like the Seth Dagduram Katariya English Medium High School, the Pune Vyayam Shala, Smt. Indirabai Karandikar English Medium School, Maharashtriya Mandal Marathi Medium School and Capt. Shivarampant Damle Marathi Medium School. The sheer grit and dedication of the Late Shri. Shivarampant Damle finally bore fruits when the Government finally allotted the Mandal with 32 acres of land.

Chandrashekhar Agashe College of Physical Education (CACPE), named after the late founder of the Brihan Maharashtra Sugar Syndicate, came into being in July 1977 at Gultekdi, Pune. Today the College is a name to reckon with in the field of physical education and boasts of an infrastructure and standard of education which is one of the best in the country.