Bateshwar Temples

Imagine being able to spend all of your quiet downtime in a small town with a vibrant spiritual and cultural energy, where pure tranquility and relaxation are the top objectives. Bateshwar, 70 miles from Agra and an important spiritual and cultural center for India, offers all of this to everyone. The name is derived from Vateshwarnathji, another name for Lord Shiva. Legend has it that Lord Shiva slept beneath a Banyan tree (Bat in Sanskrit), giving rise to the place's name, Bateshwar (banyan lord). This town used to have about 101 temples. However, as time passed, only about 42 people were still alive. About 400 years ago, the Bhadawar dynasty's Raja Badan Singh moved the capital from Mai to Bateshwar. He ordered and completed some of the Bateshwar temples still in existence. The king built a dam to protect these temples from the Yamuna River's intense flooding. Three holy books reference the Bateshwar Nath shrine: the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, and the Matsya-purana. The river ghats at Bateshwar are beautiful since numerous temples flank them.

Numerous temples have preserved the gorgeous paintings painted with traditional vegetable dyes in their original state. Beautiful scenery can be seen while running across Chambal's dunes to get to Bateshwar, especially during the monsoon season. Bateshwar is renowned for its yearly Cattle Fair, which dates back 400 years. Between Bateshwar and Mai is where Raja Badan Singh designated it to be organized under his rule. This fair is considered to be the biggest livestock fair in northern India. For the Bateshwar Temple, Shravan is a major month for scheduled fairs. The pilgrims trek 160 km to their Kanwar and bring Ganges water. To receive their wishes from Lord Shiva Linga, worshipers at the Bateshwar temple offer Gangaajal to him every Monday during Shaván. During this time, the Bateshwar temple receives thousands of pilgrims. Shivratri is the temple's main celebration.