Ballekere

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Ballekere is a small village near Kadur in the Chikkamagaluru district of Karnataka, India. It sits about 7 km from Kadur, and its railway station is about 1 km away, with trains to Bengaluru, Mysuru, Shimoga, and Hubli. The area lies in the rain-shadow of the Western Ghats, so droughts are common. The village’s main language is Kannada.

In 2011, Ballekere had 1,157 residents living in 288 houses. The population is about half female (49.4%). The literacy rate is 67.0%, with female literacy at around 29.2%. Scheduled Caste members make up 22.5% of the population. About 53.6% of people were working, and there were 81 children aged 0–6.

Ballekere is governed by a village panchayat headed by a Sarpanch, with elected members and local government staff helping run the village.

Facilities include a government primary school up to class 7 and a primary health care centre near the Sri Anjaneya Swami Temple. The main occupation is farming, with crops such as ragi, jowar, groundnut, and sunflower. The farms are rainfed, as there is no irrigation yet; a nearby small reservoir depends on rain, and there are plans to connect it to Ayyanakere to help farmers.

Every March, the community celebrates the Anjaneya Jatra Mahothsava, a major religious and cultural festival at the Sri Anjaneya Swami Temple. Other local rituals include Sri Anjaneya Swamy Ratotsava and the drama Sri Shani Mahatme Pouranika Nataka, with Holi celebrated after the Jatra. Hanuma Mala during Sankranti and Ambu during Navaratri are also observed.

Historically, Ballekere was visited by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during her election campaign after the Emergency, when she contested a by-election from the Chickmagaluru seat. It is now part of the Hassan parliamentary constituency.