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Temple Speciality

Temple Name

Sthalam

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Kalpeshwar&nbsp;is the last and fifth temple in the list of&nbsp;Panch Kedar&nbsp;pilgrimage circuit and it is the only temple of the sacred Panch Kedars that remains open throughout the year.&nbsp;The matted hairs or Jata or Lord Shiva are worshipped inside this temple.

Lord Shiva is worshipped in the form of matted hairs at Kalpeshwar and the trail to this sacred shine goes through thick forests and lush green terrace fields. There is also an old&nbsp;Kalpvriksha tree&nbsp;here which is said to be the wish-granting tree in Hindu mythology..Kalpeshwar temple is located at an height of 2200 mts, dedicated to Lord Shiva in the picturesque Urgam valley in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand state in India.

It is a part of the famous&nbsp;Panch Kedars.At this small stone temple, approached through a cave passage, the matted tress (jata) of Lord Shiva is worshipped. Hence, Lord Shiva is also called as Jatadhar or Jateshwar. It is approachable only by 12 km trekking from the nearest road head of Helong on the Rishikesh-Badrinath road.

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Puranam

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Many folk legends related to the Garhwal region, Lord Shiva and the creation of the Panch Kedar temples are narrated.

A folk legend about Panch Kedar relates to the Pandavas, the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. The Pandavas defeated and slayed their cousins &mdash; the Kauravas in the epic Kurukshetra war. They wished to atone for the sins of committing fratricide (gotra hatya) and Brāhmanahatya (killing of Brahmins &mdash; the priest class) during the war.

Thus, they handed over the reins of their kingdom to their kin and left in search of lord Shiva and to seek his blessings. First, they went to the holy city of Varanasi (Kashi), believed to be Shiva&#39;s favourite city and known for its Kashi Vishwanath Temple. But, Shiva wanted to avoid them as he was deeply incensed by the death and dishonesty at the Kurukshetra war and was, therefore, insensitive to Pandavas&#39; prayers. Therefore, he assumed the form of a bull (Nandi) and hid in the Garhwal region.

Not finding Shiva in Varanasi, the Pandavas went to Garhwal Himalayas. Bhima, the second of the five Pandava brothers, then standing astride two mountains started to look for Shiva. He saw a bull grazing near Guptakashi (&ldquo;hidden Kashi&rdquo; &mdash; the name derived from the hiding act of Shiva). Bhima immediately recognized the bull to be Shiva.

Bhima caught hold of the bull by its tail and hind legs. But the bull-formed Shiva disappeared into the ground to later reappear in parts, with the hump raising in Kedarnath, the arms appearing in Tungnath, the face showing up at Rudranath, the nabhi (navel) and stomach surfacing in Madhyamaheshwar and the hair appearing in Kalpeshwar.

The Pandavas pleased with this reappearance in five different forms, built temples at the five places for venerating and worshipping Shiva. The Pandavas were thus freed from their sins.

A variant of the tale credits Bhima of not only catching the bull, but also stopping it from disappearing. Consequently, the bull was torn asunder into five parts and appeared at five locations in the Kedar Khand of Garhwal region of the Himalayas.&nbsp;After building the Panch Kedar Temples, the Pandavas meditated at Kedarnath for salvation, performed yagna (fire sacrifice) and then through the heavenly path called the Mahapanth (also called Swargarohini), attained heaven or salvation.

The Panch Kedar Temples are constructed in the North-Indian Himalayan Temple architecture with the Kedarnath, Tungnath and Madhyamaheshwar temples looking similar.

After completing the pilgrimage of Lord Shiva&#39;s darshan at the Panch Kedar Temples, it is an unwritten religious rite to visit Lord Vishnu at the Badrinath Temple, as a final affirmatory proof by the devotee that he has sought blessings of Lord Shiva.Many folk legends related to the Garhwal region, Lord Shiva and the creation of the Panch Kedar temples are narrated. 
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Varnam

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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 brahminfrom Kerala sect who worship at Badrinath. at Kedarnath, the Jangamas are lingayats from Mysore in Karnataka. In all these temples the pooja is designed by adi sankara. these priests also are supposed to be appointed by Adi Shankara. The priests at the Rudranath temple are Dasnamis and Gosains.

Kalpeshwar temple legend linked to the Pandavas, heroes of epic Mahabharata eminence is the fifth temple of the Panch Kedars (five temples) of Shiva&rsquo;s five anatomical divine forms; the other four temples in the order of their worship are&nbsp;Kedarnath,&nbsp;Rudranath,&nbsp;Tungnath&nbsp;and&nbsp;Madhyamaheshwar&nbsp;temples.

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&rsquo;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.

Another legend states that this place was much preferred by sages of folklore for meditation. Particular mention is made of sage Arghya who through his austere penance created Urvashi, the famous apsara (nymph) at this place. Durvasa, an ancient sage, son of Atri and Anasuya, considered an incarnation of Shiva, known for his short temper did penance and meditated under the Kalpavriksha, the wish fulfilling divine tree in the precincts of the temple.

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