Churu, Rajasthan, India

🇮🇳 Churu is a city in the desert region of Rajasthan state of India. It is known as the gateway to the Thar Desert of Rajasthan. It is the administrative headquarter of Churu District. It lies in the Thar Desert on the National Highway 52 connecting Sangrur to Ankola and is a junction station on the railway line to Bikaner. It is near the shifting sand dunes of the Thar Desert and has grand havelis with marvelous fresco paintings, namely Kanhaiya Lal Bagla Ki Haweli and Surana Haweli, with hundreds of small windows. It also has some fine Chhatris. Near the town is a religious seat of the Nath sect of Sadhus where there are life-size marble statues of their deities and a place for prayers. At the centre of the town is a fort built about 500 years ago.

History Churu was founded by Nirban Rajputs year 1620. A period of struggle led to Churu getting ruled by Banirot Rajputs descendants of Rao Banir Thakur Kushal Singh constructed the Churu fort in 1649 and during the battle of 1871 the area came under dominance of Bikaner. The Shekhawats (Taknet) fought alongside the Rathores (Banirot) to defend the city fort. This battle is famous for its usage of canon shells made of silver. The descendants of the Taknet's and the Banirot's still reside in the city. Churu, like an oasis, situated in the middle of the shifting golden sand dunes, opens the gate to the Thar Desert.

Economy As about eight Tehsils lie in Churu district with more than 900 villages along with 248 panchayats and about two million population, the economy of the town and surrounding area is mainly based on animal husbandry and hand embroidery work done by women. Due to the climatic conditions, the scope of agriculture is very low in Churu. Many women here are engaged in hand embroidery.

The main source of income for the people living in rural areas of Churu is from dairy. Churu has a small market for a few agricultural produce of the area. The town has an Agricultural Produce Market Committee. The Food Corporation of India has its warehouses in Churu. The town is the main supply point for surrounding villages.

There is no medium or large size industry in the industrial area. The very few small-scale industries are granite slabs and tiles, cutting and polishing, and mustard seed crushing. The city is organized around Kalera Bass surrounding many areas like Chandani Chowk, Adarsh Nagar, Balmiki Basti, Mochiwarah and Subhash Chowk.

Geography Churu has an average elevation of 292 m (958 ft). Churu is encircled by large shifting sand dunes. The area is scanty in vegetation. Phoge and Kair bushes and Khejri/Khejra (Prosopis cineraria), Royara and Babul trees are mainly found on the sand dunes. One can find sand dunes all over the area with a couple of small limestone hills.

Demographics As per 2001 census of India, Churu had a population of 97,627. Males constituted 52% of the population and the remaining females. Churu has an average literacy rate of 62%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; male literacy is 72% and female literacy is 51%. In Churu, 17% of the population is under six years of age. As per the provisional reports of the census of India, the population of Churu in 2011 is 119,846, constituting 61,771 males and 58,075 females respectively.

Transport Churu railway station is a junction station on Delhi-Rewari-Bikaner route. A train that runs from Delhi to Bikaner via Churu also connects to Jaipur via Sikar. The railway track to Jaipur was meter gauge and now converted to broad gauge and operational. Churu lies on NH 52 and is connected to all major cities (Kaithal) by all-weather roads.

Electricity There is one sub-grid station of 220 KV at Churu. The town receives power from Power Grid Corporation of India's grid station in Hissar, Haryana. Almost all villages of the Churu sub division are electrified.

Water The town gets drinking water from local wells which is hard and brackish. The town area drinking water supply is managed by the water department of the Government of Rajasthan. The government is trying to get drinking water for the area from Indira Gandhi Canal. The main source of irrigation for farmers continues to be rain water and wells at a few places.

Safe Water Network India in association with Bhoruka Charitable Trust has augmented natural water storage at homes through Rooftop Rain Water Harvesting by creating household wells and has also refurbished existing community wells to provide water to families living in huts and children in schools. This initiative has reduced the drudgery of women and the children in this water-challenged region of Rajasthan.

Education The town has two post-graduate colleges: Lohia College which is affiliated to University of Bikaner and Balika Mahavidalya and Government Law College, affiliated to Maharaja Ganga Singh University. There are several higher secondary, secondary and primary schools in Churu.

Major schools of Churu are: Kendriya Vidyalaya, Lords International School, Little Flower School, Shri Jain Swetambar Terapanthi Sen. Sec. School, The Walden Pond Sr. Sec. School, Lakshmipat Singhania Academy, Adarsh Vidya Mandir, Montessori School, Goenka School and Bagla Senior Secondary School which is the oldest school of Shekhawati region established by Bhagwandas Bagla. Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Medical College, Churu

NGOs There are few NGOs in the town, including Navyuvak Mandal Mithi Redu, Manav Pragati Sansthan, Prayas Sansthan, Marudhar Yuva Sansthan, Dudhwa Mitha, Asgar Khan Advocate Charitable Trust.

Telecommunications Many telecommunications service companies such as BSNL, Vodafone, Airtel, Tata DoCoMo and Idea have their network in Churu. Internet and fax services are also available. Tata Teleservices caters the rural telephony in the villages having base of 70,000 users in villages.

Hospitals Churu has good medical facilities with Medical collage. The town has a government hospital along with few private hospitals like the Hirawat Heart Care Centre and Bhanu Hospital. There is also an Ayurvedic hospital in Churu.

Sport The town has a sports stadium. It has indoor and outdoor games facilities. It has the infrastructure to hold yearly state-level tournaments. Adventure sports like Parasailing, Paramotoring, Rappelling are also organized in Churu.

Banking Many nationalised banks Central Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank have branches in Churu. Some co-operative banks like Churu Central Cooperative Bank and Bhumi Vikas Bank also have branches in the town.

Library The town has a public library called Shri Sagar Jain Jila Pustkalaya.

Administration Churu constituency elects one member to the Vidhan Sabha (Rajasthan State Assembly) & one to Lok Sabha (Indian Parliament).

Attractions Sujangarh On South Side, Ratangarh On Southwest Side, Sardarshahar On North Side, Tarangar On Northeast Side, Rajgarh On East Side, Ratannagar, Chapper, Bidasar and Rajaldesar are the other major towns in the district. The Tal Chhapar Sanctuary, a blackbuck sanctuary, has more than 1,680 black bucks and migratory birds. It is a major attraction for wildlife enthusiasts. Other attractions include the grand palatial Havelies in the towns of Ratannagar, Ratangarh and Sardarshahar, the Hanuman temple at Salasar and the Venkateshwar temple at Sujangarh, the birthplace of local deity, Gogaji, in Dadrewa. The Bhadrakali Temple at Rajaldesar is popular among Shakta Tantra followers from all over India, which was established by Anant Shri Vibhushit Dandi Swami Jogendrashram ji Maharaj. Baba Phool Nath Temple at Nawa, Rajgarh is popular and related to the Nath community.