Bateshwar draws its name from the main Bateshwarnath Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. Local folklore and ancient legends describe a Shiv worshiping ascetic who resided here under a magnificent Banyan tree (Bat in Sanskrit), and raised a shrine to Shiva that came to be known as Bat-Ishwar; the banyan lord. The journey from Bat-Ishwar to the current Bateshwar was but a short one.