A trip with sibligs - Day 3

It was a beautiful morning. We were ready for the day. We had planned to go to Kalpeshwer temple. We had breakfast at hotel and started around 10AM.

Kalpeshwar temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. This temple is located in Urgam valley in Garhwal region of Uttarakhand and 26.8 km away from Joshimath. This temple is linked to the Pandavas. There are five temples dedicated to Lord Shiva, known as Panch Kedars (five anatomical divine forms) – Kedarnath, Rudranath, Tungnath, Madhyamaheshwar and Kalpeshwar. All are located in Garhwal Himalayas. Kalpeshwar is the only Panch Kedar temple that is open throughout the year. There is very interesting story about these Panch Kedars. Pandavas were chasing the Lord Shiva to seek his pardon for the sins they had committed during the Kurukshetra war. Lord Shiva took the unidentified form of a bull. Pandavas brothers tried to hold on to the bull, He vanished underground and reappeared in five different forms – his hump appeared in Kedarnath, arms in Tungnath, head in Rudranath, stomach and naval in Madhyamaheshwar and jata(tress) in Kalpeshwar. I wrote briefly about the story; I would suggest reading full story on internet. Our religion has so many interesting stories. I love to read them. There are stories behind most of the temples in India. My granny and parents used to tell me those stories. Believe me, they were very interesting.

Now I would take you to our road trip to Kalpeshwar temple. It was a kaccha rasta(muddy road) with stunning scenery. We were playing songs during the trip. We were singing, dancing and it feels like surrounding was also dancing with us. As I have mentioned many times in my previous blogs, mountains attract me. I feel some connection and so was feeling during this trip. View was eye soothing. Although this was 26.8 km, yet it took us approximately 3 hrs to reach there because of the road condition.

We stopped approx 1 km before the temple. From there we walked to the temple. It was kind of a very small trek we did. It had brought us very close to the surrounding. we got a chance to feel the nature closely. Although this was winter, but sun was mixing up with the cool breeze. It was a perfect combination of the weather. After this kaccha rasta(muddy road), there was a small bridge and temple was on the other side of the bridge. The river Kalpganga flows near the temple. sound of the flowing water and the wind was like a music to the ears. This was making the environment peaceful and beautiful.

This was a very small temple. There was a very small and dark room where Lord Shiva appeared. Only one person was allowed inside at a time. There were already few people waiting to go inside. So we explored the nearby area till the time we got our turn. We did Puja after approx. half an hour.

Middle picture is the picture of the main temple. This was a beautiful experience.

We started to return to the hotel. We needed to reach before the sun set, as the route was not so good. After reaching Joshimath, we explored the nearby market and then finally we reached hotel. Next day we had to start for Auli, so we inquired about the most famous rope way, we hotel manager told us that there is a log queue waiting and it’s almost impossible to get the ticket. We told him that we had booking there, so he agreed to arrange ticket of 12 pm or after; but we wanted to go early because we had to return next day. So there was a guy who said that he could arrange early tickets but we need to pay 1000/- extra, because he needed to go to ticket counter at night. Since it was a chilled night, so we agreed to pay extra and finally we got the tickets of 9 am.

So guys, here is suggestion; please plan to stay in Auli for at least 2 days. Although there is nothing to visit, since rope ways are usually fully booked so it would be good if you have one day in buffer.

We didn’t know this and therefore we had to cancel our return tickets for next day. Ropeway station was hardly 1 km from our hotel. This was the most beautiful ride of my life. I will write about this amazing experience and fun in Auli in my next blog.