It Was One Worthy Trek To Kalpeshwar

Day: 14th November 2017

I have heard a lot about Kalpeshwar mostly because it was one of the five temples of Panch Kedar. The lord Shiva temple is located in the Gharwal region and was one of my first small treks before Vasudhara.

The Kalpeswar temple is located at the height of 2,200 m or 7,200 ft and is the lowest amongst the four other temples of Panch Kedar. The other temples of Panch Kedar include Kedarnath which is located at an altitude of 3,583 m, the Tungnath situated at the height of 3,680 m, Rudranath located at the height of 2,286 m and Madhyamaheshwar better known as Madmaheshwar situated at 3,490 m. Out of all the four temples, Kalpeshwar is the only temple which is accessible throughout the year, and that is all because it is located at a lower height and thus there is snowfall.

I reached Lyari village which was recently made accessible by car at around 9 AM in the morning and had a cup of tea from there before starting my trek. I was quite happy when I saw that the trek route passes through the village where you can watch residents doing their daily household activities. The residents are quite friendly as I interacted with few of them when I stopped for a water break. There are plenty of floras on the road which will eventually lead you to the temple. There is even a small waterfall as well on the way from where the trail gets little harsh. 

When the temple was visible infront of my eyes, I suddenly came to a halt. Previously there was a bridge which connected both the banks intersected by river Kalpganga which flows through the Urgam valley. Unfortunately, the bridge was damaged by the Uttarakhand flood which occurred back in 2013. Now to reach to the temple, you will have to get down till the river bank and then climb up to enter the gates of the temple. Now, let me give you a small warning here climbing to the entrance of the temple can be quite a task for aged people and there is no road, and you will have to make your way up through the loose gravel and rocks to reach the doorsteps of the temple. However, there is an alternate medium as well in the form of a hanging trolley which would take you to the temple steps, but I have no idea whether that thing is well maintained or even used or not. So I would suggest you walk and rely on your own feet to reach the destination.

As soon as you reach the temple, you will find priests who are ready to offer blessings to the main shrine. Offer your blessing there and pay some donations if you want and then you can leave the place and head back once again via the same route to the Lyari village.

While coming back, I found some small kids on the way so my little tip for your travelers is that you should carry some chocolates because trust me they are way too cute to refuse.

 HOW TO REACH KALPESHWAR

The temple is located on the same route which leads to Badrinath. Before coming here I was told that I would have to walk all the way to Kalpeshwar temple from Helang. But to my surprise, I found that now the local Government has paved roads all the way to Lyari village which is the last village before you start your trek to Kalpeshwar temple. One last thing that you should also keep in mind is that the road from Helang is not entirely paved and is actually little unsafe for small cars with smaller wheels. But the good news now is that the trek from Urgam village has reduced to just 2 Kilometers from 10 kilometers which were earlier from Helang.

P.S: If you are a real devotee then you can visit the temple, and if you are not a devotee then I think you should also visit the place atleast once because it will give you a chance to interact with the friendly locals.

GALLERY