In the green Urgam valley of the Garhwal Himalayas, amid apple orchards and terraced fields along the Kalpaganga, Kalpeshwar is the fifth and final shrine of the Panch Kedar — and the only one that can be worshipped throughout the year. In the Panch Kedar legend of the Mahabharata, when the bull-form of Shiva dived into the earth to elude the Pandavas and reappeared across these mountains, it was here that his matted hair (jata) emerged — and so the Lord is revered at Kalpeshwar as Jatadhar, worshipped within a small cave shrine.
The valley is linked in tradition to the sage Durvasa, said to have meditated here beneath the wish-granting Kalpavriksha tree, from which the place takes its name. Reached by a short walk from the roadhead through the beautiful Urgam valley, Kalpeshwar completes the sacred circuit of the five Kedars — after which pilgrims traditionally seek Vishnu at Badrinath to fulfil their journey.
Four of the Panch Kedar shut for the winter. Kalpeshwar, low enough in the Urgam valley to stay reachable, keeps its doors open through the year.
Source: Panch Kedar yatra schedule, Uttarakhand
