Kalpeshwar Temple, Uttarakhand

Kalpeshwar Temple is an ancient Hindu temple dedicated to the worship of Lord Shiva. Situated in Chamoli district in Dev Bhoomi, Uttarakhand it is the only Panch Kedar pilgrimage open throughout the year. At this small stone temple, which is approached through a cave passage the matted tress (jata) of Lord Shiva is worshipped. Hence, Lord Shiva is also called as Jatadhar or Jateshwar. Situated at an altitude 2,134 metres above sea level, Kalpeshwar temple is one of the best places for meditation in Uttarakhand Himalayas.

The epic legend narrated on the creation of the Panch Kedar temples is that Pandavas of Mahabharata epic history, while chasing Lord Shiva to seek his pardon for the fratricidal sins committed by them during the Kurukshetra war, realized that Shiva, in order to distance himself from the Pandavas, took the incognito form of a bull. But when this form of Shiva was discerned by Bhima, the second of the Pandava brothers, tried to hold on to the bull’s tail and hind legs. But the bull vanished underground at Guptakashi. Subsequently it reappeared in five different forms: His hump appeared at Kedarnath, his bahu (arm) was spotted at Tungnath, his head surfaced at Rudranath, the stomach and navel were traced at Madhyamaheswar and his jata (tress) was divined at Kalpeshwar.

Kalpeshwar Temple is a beautiful stone marvel which went on much modification over the years since ancient times. The entire structure is built of granite stones obtained from the same mountains. This temple is built in the Nagara architectural style. A huge tower is built here with a porch at the top of the tower. The main sanctum sanctorum lies under this huge tower structure’s central area. In front of the temple a huge brass bell is found hanged from a stone pillar. The temple is hence considered to be of great architectural significance.

Kalpeshwar Temple, Uttarakhand

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The temple celebrates Maha Shivrathri as its main festival which is witnessed by lakhs of devotees every year. On this auspicious day, many rituals are conducted throughout the day and night. Getting blessed on this day is considered to be very advantageous.

The temple priests at this temple also are the Dasnamis and Gossains, disciples of Adi Shankara. At Tungnath also the priests are Khasiya Brahmins. These priests hail from South India; the Namboodiri brahmin sect who worship at Badrinath and Kedarnath from Kerala, the Jangamas are lingayats from Mysore and the Dasnami Gossains belong to Adi Shankara’s group. The priests at the Rudranath temple are Dasnamis and Gosains.

The temple is open all days of the week from 4am to 9pm. The nearest airport is at Jolly Grant, Dehradun at a distance of 272 km (169.0 mi) and the nearest railhead, Rishikesh, is 255 km (158.4 mi). Access to Kalpeshwar by road up to Urgam is from Rishikesh, a distance of 253 km (157.2 mi) on the Rishikesh-Badrinath road. Accomodations for tourists are available in the temple dharamshalas.