Challakere

Town in Karnataka, India

Challakere is a city municipality (taluk) in Chitradurga district in the state of Karnataka, India. It is called Oil City with numerous edible oil mills around the city and also Science City as several science and research organizations such as IISc, DRDO, BARC and ISRO have set up their establishments here.

Challakere is located at It has an average elevation of 585 metres (1919 ft).

Challakere is the largest taluk of Chitradurga District. as of 2011 India census, Challakere has a population of 55,194.

Challakere is 200 km from Bangalore where an integrated township spread over 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).

Challakere is also known as the 'oil city' or "second mumbai" of India because 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.

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.

Challakere is well connected to Bangalore, Bellary, Pavagada, and Chitradurga by road. NH 150A which connects Chamarajanagara and Jevargi passes through the city. Chitradurga, which is the district headquarters, is 30 km from this city.