01The jata of Mahadev
Of the five parts of the bull, the matted locks rose here, in the valley of the Kalpganga. Kalpeshwar is a small stone shrine reached through a narrow passage in the rock, and the jata is worshipped on a rock within. Ganga, who came down from heaven into those same locks, is close in the mind of every pilgrim here. Because it lies lower than the other four, the snow does not shut it, and darshan goes on through the winter. In the same valley, at Urgam village, stands Dhyan Badri, one of the Sapta Badri.
02Rishis of the Urgam valley
The temple’s own tradition says that Rishi Arghya did tapas here and that Durvasa Muni meditated under the kalpavriksha, the wish-granting tree, from which the place takes its name. The priests are Dasnami sannyasis and Gosains of the line of Adi Shankaracharya. Urgam is a valley of terraced potato fields and apple orchards, and from Helang on the Rishikesh–Badrinath road the confluence of the Kalpganga with the Alaknanda can be seen. Pilgrims who finish the five Kedars usually go on to Badrinath to complete the yatra with darshan of Bhagwan Vishnu.
Leave the Badrinath road at Helang, about 14 km before Joshimath, and drive up the Urgam valley to Devgram; the temple is a short walk from there. Open all year.
