Kalpeshwar Temple is revered as the fifth Kedar among the Panch Kedar temples of Lord Shiva located in Uttarakhand. The Jatas of Lord Shiva are worshiped in the Kalpeshwar temple, hence this temple is also known as Jatadhar and Jateshwar. Kalpeshwar Temple is an ancient temple of Lord Shiva located in the Urgam valley, 28 km from Joshimath, which was built by the Pandavas during the Mahabharata period.
In the Panch Kedar temples of Lord Shiva, apart from the fifth Kedar Kalpeshwar, Kedarnath is worshiped as the first Kedar, Madhyamaheshwar as the second Kedar, Tungnath as the third Kedar and Rudranath as the fourth Kedar. Among the five Kedar temples, Kalpeshwar is the only temple that remains open throughout the year for the devotees to visit.
The rest of the four Kedar temples are closed for devotees during the winter season. The journey to Kalpeshwar temple is considered to be the easiest among all Kedar temples. By the way, the Kalpeshwar temple is built inside a natural cave built in the Urgam valley. But devotees have to walk only a few meters to reach the temple on foot.
Until recently, even to reach the Kalpeshwar temple, devotees had to trek 12 km through the Helang valley. At present the road has been built near the Kalpeshwar temple, due to which the journey to the temple has become very easy and convenient. A few kilometers of unpaved road remains for the travelers coming from Joshimath during their journey to Kalpeshwar.
This road becomes a bit slippery and risky during the monsoon season traveling from Joshimath to Kalpeshwar. Therefore, while traveling to Kalpeshwar during the monsoon season, take some extra care on the road from Joshimath to Kalpeshwar.
