Chalakudy (Malayalam: [tʃaːlɐkːuɖi]) is a municipal town situated on the banks of Chalakudy River in Thrissur district of the Kerala state in India. It is the headquarters of Chalakudy taluk. It is the base camp for travellers to Athirappilly Falls and Vazhachal Falls. Chalakudy lies on National Highway 544 and located about 47 km (23 mi) north of the city of Kochi, and 30 km (19 mi) south of Thrissur.

History says during the second Chera dynasty, people outside Kerala visited Chalakudy to learn vedas and Kalaripayattu from Chukkikulam Shala. These people lived in the banks of Chalakudy River and this accommodation is called Kudi. The combination of these two words Shalakudi is later modified into Chalakudy.^[2]

Chalakudy Municipality came into existence in the year 1970. The municipality covering an area of 25.23 km² is divided into 36 electoral wards. Chalakudy is a Grade-II municipality. It was a major constituent of Mukundapuram Lok Sabha constituency from 1957 until Chalakudy Lok Sabha constituency came into existence in 2008, following the delimitation of parliamentary constituencies based on recommendations of the Delimitation Commission of India. This constituency comprises seven assembly segments spread over two districts—Thrissur (3) and Ernakulam (4). In 2013, Chalakudy became a Taluk..^[3] Chalakudy is both a Kerala Assembly constituency & a Lok Sabha constituency.^[4]

National Highway 544 passes right through the town of Chalakudy and serves as the major access point between Thrissur and Ernakulam Districts. State Highways - SH 21 , SH 51 and SH 61 are the other major roads along with district roads providing access to the low lying areas to the west and the high lying areas to the east.

State Highway 21 which starts from Chalakudy and ends at the state boundary with Tamil Nadu at Malakkappara is 86.0 kms (53.4 mi) long of which 50.1 kms passes entirely through fully protected forest region and is often described as one of the best scenic routes in India due to its picturesque rainforests and frequent sightings of wildlife.^[5] The Athirappilly falls and Vazhachal falls are located along this route.

The Chalakudy KSRTC bus stand is the main hub for intra state travel to major towns and cites in Kerala and also to the various remote locations within the Thrissur District. There are regular KSRTC bus services to Athirapally, Malakkappara and an inter state service to Valparai Hill Station in Tamil Nadu. Chalakudy also has a private bus stand that has frequent schedules to Irinjalakuda, Aloor, Kodakara, Kodungaloor, Mala, Ashtamichira, Puthenvelikara, Meloor, Koratty, Angamaly, Kodassery, Athirapally, Valparai.

Chalakudi is the 2nd largest Railway Station in Thrissur which is operated by the Southern Railway zone of Indian Railways, and comes under Trivandrum railway division provides a major connection to South and North Kerala. ^[6][7]

The nearest Airport is Cochin International Airport in Nedumbassery which is 19 km from Chalakudy. All the major domestic and international flights are available here. Direct flights are available to New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, Goa, Mangaluru, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram, London, Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Bahrain, Kuwait, Muscat, Malé, Colombo, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Salalah, Jeddah and Riyadh.

According to 2011 census, Chalakudy’s total population comes to 114,901. The density of the population is 4554 per sq Km. Out of the total population, 55,276 constitute males and 59625 females. The children (aged 6-10) constitute 8.86% and is lower than National Urban average which is 10.93%. The literacy rate of Chalakudy is 96.42% and higher than the National Urban average which is 85% of which male literacy rate is 97.53% and female literacy rate is 95.41%. The sex ratio of Chalakudy stands at 96.42%.^[8]

Chalakudy hosts major educational institutions consisting of higher secondary schools, English and Malayalam medium high schools, a Aeronautical College , a government industrial training institute, a medical college, and many other professional institutions.

• Government Boys' Higher Secondary School, Chalakudy
• Carmel Higher Secondary School, Chalakudy
• Sacred Heart Convent Girls' Higher Secondary School, Chalakudy 
• CKM NSS Senior Secondary School
• Crescent Public School, Chalakudy
• Vyasa Vidyanikethan Central School, Chalakudy
• CMI Public School, Chalakudy
• Government Higher Secondary School, V R Puram  
• Government Girls High School, Chalakudy
• Carmel Academy CMI ICSE School, Chalakudy

• Panampilly Memorial Government College
• Sacred Heart College Chalakudy
• Southern College of Engineering & Technology
• St. James College of Pharmaceutical Sciences
• St. James College of Nursing
• Nirmala College of Arts and Science
• Nirmala College of Management
• Nirmala College of Engineering
• Nirmala College of Health Science

Chalakudy is sub urban town blessed with the abundance of lushness mainly due to the Chalakudy river and many green agricultural paddy fields. The Town is the major corridor for tourists travelling to Athirapally & Vazhachal Waterfalls and the hill stations of Malakappara & Valparai. The multiple access points to the Chalakudy River serves as a evening getaway location like Koodapuzha Checkdam, Arangali Kadavu and Urumbunkunnu.

• A K Lohithadas
• Kalabhavan Mani
• Jose Pellissery
• Lijo Jose Pellissery
• R. L. V. Ramakrishnan
• Antony Thachuparambil
• Raghavan Thirumulpad
• Porinju Veliyath
• C. S. Venkiteswaran
• Vishnu Sarma
• B. D. Devassy
• Anshitha Akbarsha

Media related to Chalakudy at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website Archived 19 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine.