It’s rare that you set out to discover one UNESCO World Heritage Site, and find two of those. But India can throw up a lot of surprises, and this is what will happen if you drive from Bengaluru to the Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas – India’s 42nd and newest World Heritage Site, inscribed by the UNESCO in September 2023.
What are these ensembles?
The Hoysalas ruled what is modern day Karnataka from the 10th to the 14th centuries, and were patrons of art, religion and architecture. Today, more than 100 temples showcasing Hoysala-style architecture can be found across Karnataka, but these three are the most representative examples.
How to reach?
Starting from Bengaluru, the road trip covering these temples forms a perfect triangle on a map. We chose the Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder. A hybrid, the aim was also to cover about 700 km on one fuel tank, and minimise tail pipe emissions in this region.
Keshava Temple: Located in Somanathapura near Mysuru, it is dedicated to Lord Krishna’s three forms: Janardhana, Keshava and Venugopala. The Keshava idol is missing (it fell to invaders from the north), and the Janardhana and Venugopala idols are damaged, but the structure is magnificent. The nearest place to stay is Mysuru.
Chennakeshava Temple: Located in Belur (northwest of Mysuru), it was built to commemorate the Hoysalas’ victory over the Cholas. Dedicated to Lord Vishnu, it has a gopuram (a monumental entrance tower) and a sculpture of Garuda, Lord Vishnu’s carrier.
Hoysaleswara Temple: Located in Halebeedu (east of Belur), it’s the largest of the three, and demands at least half a day to fully comprehend. Halebeedu was previously known as Dwarasamudra, and was the ancient capital of the Hoysalas. But it fell to invasions by Delhi Sultanate armies and never recovered (in Kannada, Halebeedu means ‘old ruins’). The Hoysaleswara temple, somehow, survived these invasions and is today a beautiful expression sculpted in stone. You can, however, find ruins of other temples in the premises.
The best place to stay around is Chikkamagaluru, the coffee capital of India.
Western Ghats
The second World Heritage Site you will stumble upon during this road trip is the Western Ghats – in the region around Chikkamagaluru. Older than the Himalayas, and far greener, these mountains influence the monsoon, and are so rich in flora and fauna that these are recognised among the world’s eight ‘hottest hotspots’ of biological diversity. The Western Ghats were chosen as a World Heritage Site in 2012.
Driving around the Western Ghats, you can’t help but admire this stunning geography.
The car
On this entire road trip – highways, cities and hilly roads – the Hyryder hybrid returned fuel efficiency of 26.1 km/litre, thanks to hilly roads, where it regenerated energy going downhill and used much less fuel than a regular petrol car going uphill (as its wheels were powered by both the engine and the electric motor). In fact, in the hills, its fuel efficiency increased to about 30 km/litre. Also, while we didn’t have a mechanism to measure its tail pipe emissions, in the hills it was driving in pure electric mode almost half of the time.
