Challakere

Challakere is a town municipality and a taluk in Chitradurga district in the state of Karnataka, India.

Geography
Challakere is located at 14.312°N, 76.651°W. It has an average elevation of 585 metres (1919 ft).

Demographics
Challakere is the largest taluk of Chitradurga District. India census, Challakere has a population of 55,194.

Science and research organizations
Challakere is 200 km from Bangalore where an integrated township spread over 8000 acre has been set up by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).

Oil industry
It is the second largest producer/supplier of edible oil after Mumbai. There are as many as 60+ oil industries in Challakere. Not only oil, several other industries like dal, fried gram, rice, etc. are also present. The commercial activity in the town is comparable to that of a standard district and the district enjoys a huge business turnover out of town's business.

Spiritual places

 * Datta Mandira - located in Tyagaraja Nagar, and traditional practices of Datta Sampradaya, can be seen at this temple.
 * Jagalurajja temple (Ajjana Gudi) - located beside the Ajjana Kere, which is the main water source for surrounding wells and drinking water for challakere.
 * Challekeramma temple - Challakeramma Jathre is conducted once every five years.
 * Bhavani Shankara temple - situated at Lakshmipura, was bought from Varanasi more than 200 years back without being kept on the floor to maintain the sanctity of the idol.

Transport
Challakere is well connected to Bangalore, Ballari and Chitradurga by road. The National Highway 150A (India) that connects Chamarajanagara to Jevargi passes through the town. Challakere is 30 km from its district headquarter, Chitradurga and 200 km from state capital Bangalore.

Challakere also has a railway station (Station Code:CHKE) under South Western Railway Zone of Indian Railways. It lies on Chikjajur - Ballari Line.

The nearest international airport, Kempegowda International Airport is 229 km from Challakere.

Education

 * VEDA SCHOOL, Sanikere
 * VEDA residential PU College, Sanikere
 * Government Engineering College
 * Government First Grade College
 * Government P. U. College
 * Government Tool Room And Training Centre (GTTC)
 * Mahatma Gandhi English Medium High School (MGEMHS)
 * Vinod English School (VES)
 * Warriors English School
 * Warriors P. U. College
 * BMGHS
 * Vasavi English Medium High School

Notable people

 * C. K. Jaffer Sharief
 * Ta Ra Subba Rao - renowned Kannada novelist
 * Challakere Brothers - known for chanting of Vedas