Visit to Chikmagalur: The heart of coffee country in Karnataka

The twin beams of the Innova picked out the narrow concrete road as it snaked its way to the top of the hill in this far western corner of Karnataka. As we rounded a final bend, our destination came into view, like a ghostly haunted mansion, with the chill wind dispersed the gathering mountain mist into phantom wraiths. We had driven six hours straight from Bangalore airport to get here and I was dog-tired, sinking into a deep sleep as soon as I climbed gratefully into my four-poster bed.

Villa Urvinkhan: An intimate plantation retreat

The next morning, in the clear light of day everything appeared transformed. We were at Villa Urvinkhan, a boutique homestay tucked away in Chikmagalur, in the foothills of the Western Ghats. Chikmagalur shot to prominence as the southern bastion from which Mrs Indira Gandhi stormed back to power by winning a 1978 by-election but here it is known as the heart of Karnataka coffee country.

My  charming, spacious room, with its own outdoor shower facility, offered a superb view of the green forested valleys below as they roll away into the hazy distance. I swung gently on the jhoola in the balcony outside, sipping my filter coffee and admiring  the small infinity pool glittering before me like a sapphire in the morning sun.

Villa Urvinkhan (which translates as Brave Man of the Forest in Kannada) sits at one end of a 400-acre coffee estate, with thick stands of silver oak and jungle woods which provide shade to the coffee bushes. The main house has a central eating area, a library, and a spacious verandah, all decorated in an eclectic and individualistic style. There are ten large rooms scattered throughout the estate but in close proximity to the main house, and each is equipped with its own attractive set of carefully restored antique estate furniture.

Over beers and lunch, I met the charming owners, Sunil and Shweta Gowda, the former’s fair complexion betraying his half-Danish ancestry. They were preparing for the wedding of their son Siddhant to his Peruvian fiancée, Stephanie, at the villa. I can’t imagine a more picture-perfect setting for a wedding. The food served was proudly regional, so we got a choice of delicious Malnad-style chicken, mutton or crab curry accompanied by kadubu (rice dumplings) and kai obattu (coconut bread). Malnad is the Karnataka region which covers the western and eastern slopes of the Western Ghats and is roughly 100 kilometers in width.

In the afternoon, I ventured into the infinity pool. The water was a bit chilly but my body soon adjusted to the temperature, and I enjoyed the wonderful view over the hills and far away. Sunil took me on a tour of the estate and showed me the various rooms and villas. We also visited the Rameshwar temple at the bottom of the hill which has been entirely rebuilt by him as the chief patron.

Villa Urvinkhan is the perfect coffee plantation retreat if you are looking for a beautiful hilltop hideaway where you can chill with family and friends.

Machaan Plantation Resort: An ideal resort for exploration and relaxation

The next day, we headed south, driving for about 90 minutes to our next coffee estate destination, The Machaan, located in an area called Sakleshpur. This place is as different from Villa Urvinkhan as chalk from cheese, and while the latter is cosy and intimate, the former offers much more of a resort experience. The resort has a large pool, with a restaurant in the middle, and the resort buildings housing the rooms are scattered over 16 acres. The rooms are all the same size and come with the standard amenities. The Machaan is clearly very popular as a weekend getaway destination for families from Bangalore.

Our resort building had a grand view of the Western Ghats, including Jenukallu Gudda, which at 4,500 ft is the second highest peak in Karnataka and bears a marked resemblance to Nanda Devi with its soaring conical central summit.

A popular day outing is a drive to Sarpadari at the base of Jennukallu Gudda (translates as bee’s stone) and then a trek lasting three or four hours to the summit, which is crowned by a small Shiva temple. Here one can enjoy a spectacular all-round view of the surrounding countryside and the entire trip can be organized by The Machaan. Indeed, a visit to The Machaan is positioned to be “all about experiences” explains our affable host and the co-owner of the coffee estate, Ganesh Basavaraj, who could pass for an adventurous young George Clooney.

The Coffee Trail at Harley Estate Plantation

How can you visit Karnataka’s coffee country and not participate in the ultimate “cupping” experience? We made our way to the nearby Harley Estate Plantation, established in 1864 and renowned for its coffee and coffee products, to participate in a Coffee Trail workshop. The workshop began with a guided tour through the lush green estate during which we learned how different types of coffee are grown and appreciated the importance of sustainable farming techniques.

Next was a visit to an experimental lab, the first one of its kind in India, where we were taken through all the different techniques of brewing coffee, from AeroPress to pour-over to South Indian filter, by brew master Prasanna. The session included learning how to grade different types of coffee, from Arabica to Robusta, and ended with a quiz and a tasting session of different coffees, reminiscent of an elegant wine-tasting soiree.

Included our the Coffee Trail package was a delicious Malendu lunch at a lovely picnic spot on the estate where a local stream gushes downwards over slabs of slippery rock. For me the high point was the extremely tasty bangda (mackerel) fish fry washed down by a pint of Kingfisher!

Belur and Halebidu: Twin temples of the Hoysala dynasty

The Machaan is also a perfect base from which to explore the wonderful temples of Belur and Halebidu, about an hour’s drive to the north of Sakleshpur. These twin temples were built by the kings of the Hoysala dynasty which ruled most of what is now Karnataka from the mid-eleventh century to the mid-fourteenth century. They are about 17 km apart, so can be visited in an easy half-day excursion.

The temples are flat squat structures dark in colour and built on unique star-shaped platforms and displaying in the most stunning detail a multitude of scenes from the Puranas, the Upanishads, and the two epics, Ramayana and the Mahabharata, on their outer walls. There are no interior passages surrounding the sanctum sanctorum, so that all devotees must complete the pradakshina (circumambulation) on the raised platform. As I completed my walk around, my eyes were drawn to the splendid sculptures and I was filled with awe at the skill and artistry of the creators.

The key architectural element here is the soft chloritic schist (commonly known as soapstone) from which both temples are built, which allowed the craftsman to render the most exquisite detailing of various gods, humans, and animals, and scenes of war, hunting, music, and dance.

The Belur temple has one shrine dedicated to Vishnu while the Halebidu temple has two dedicated to Shiva. To the left side of the Halebidu temple are two mandapams, each housing Shiva’s vahana (vehicle, animal mount), the giant black bull called Nandi. The bulls face the temple, resplendent in all their stone finery. The noteworthy features here are the tall stucco gopura which forms the entrance at Belur, which displays an eroticism of sculpture to rival that of Khajuraho, and the well-tended gardens at Halebidu, which provide a cool green setting for the main temple.