Ateshgah of Baku
Azerbaijan · Asia
About
The Ateshgah of Baku (Azerbaijani: Atəşgah), often called the "Fire Temple of Baku", is a syncretic temple in Surakhany town (in Surakhany raion).
Sarah Ashurbeyli notes that the Atsh is distorted Atesh (“fire”) and Atshi-Baguan means “Fires of Baguan”, referring to Baku. The word Baguan comes from the word Baga, which means “God” in Old Persian, and Bhaga.
Baku gets its name from Bagavan/Bagawan/Baguan/Bhagawan. It was called Bagavan during the Sassanian rule (224-651 CE).
"Interestingly, the Avesta does not mention fire temples. In fact, the temple-cult of fire appears to have come into origin only in the latter part of the Achaemenian period i.e., around the fourth century BCE. In Zoroastrianism, the temples of sacred fires were established on hills or high places. It is noteworthy, as commanded by their spiritual leader, the Zoroastrians do not consider themselves as fire worshippers. They simply believe the fire to be an instrument of purity and a symbol of truth and righteousness that helps them in focusing their thoughts Ahura, their supreme God. It was most probably for this reason that cremation came to be rejected in Zoroastrianism whereas in Hinduism it became a universal phenomenon."
"Ātash" (آتش/Atəş) is the Persian and Azerbaijani word for fire. Zoroastrians do not worship fire, but see it as connection to God. The pentagonal complex, which has a courtyard surrounded by cells for monks and a tetrapillar-altar in the middle, was built during the 17th and 18th centuries. It was abandoned in the late 19th century, probably due to the decline of the Indian population in the area and the establishment of petroleum plants in Surakhany. The natural eternal flame was extinguished in 1969, after nearly a century of petroleum and gas extraction in the area, and is now maintained using a piped gas supply.
Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.