12^th April, 2025 (today), is the first day (Roj Hormuzd) of the ninth month (Mah) of Adar as per the Shahenshahi Zoroastrian calendar. Adar is the Divinity that presides over fire. As per the Fasal or seasonal calendar, the month of Adar begins around mid-November and is celebrated right up to mid-December, when it’s cold in the Northern hemisphere. Observing the month of Adar in winter enables Zoroastrian devotees, especially in countries like Iran, to appreciate the value of fire even more. As we know, fire has historically played a crucial role in human evolution, providing warmth (from cold nights and winters), protection (especially from predators), and a means to cook food.

Interestingly, Adar (Akkadian Adaru) is the twelfth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. The Hebrew name Adar (pronounced ‘Ay daar’) is related to the word Adir which denotes strength and power. Fire also symbolises strength and power.

Myth And Symbolism

In various cultures, fire is often associated with rebirth, renewal and transformation. One such myth is that of the legendary bird – the Phoenix, a powerful symbol of renewal, resilience and the eternal balance of life and death. The Phoenix myth originates from ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Persian cultures, with the Greeks linking it to the sun god.

The Phoenix was said to live for centuries—some tales claim over 500 years—before building a nest of fragrant wood, setting it aflame, and perishing in the fire. From its ashes, a new Phoenix would rise, symbolizing rebirth. In Persian mythology, a similar bird—the Huma or Homa—is believed to live invisibly in the sky, never touching the ground. Like the Phoenix, it renews itself in fire. The Huma symbolizes hope and new beginnings born from adversity. These legends reflect the timeless truth that challenges, like fire, forge strength and resilience—transforming us, much like steel tempered in flame.

Fire As Source Of Life

Earth is the only known planet with fire—a phenomenon that requires fuel, oxygen, and life. Unlike the sun’s nuclear fusion or volcanic magma, true fire is unique to Earth. It emerged after billions of years of photosynthesis. Fire and life have shaped each other ever since. This sacred connection is what Zoroastrians honour daily and celebrate especially during the holy month of Adar.

According to the Old Testament (the Book of Genesis) God created this world in six days and rested on the seventh. In Zoroastrian cosmogony, Ahura Mazda created this world in six stages (the six Gahambars) creating first the sky, water, earth, vegetation, animal and finally man. However, what animated or gave energy or brought to life all these six good creations was Adar or fire. Both, the Bundahishn and Zatspram, explain that Ahura Mazda’s six good creations were able to commence their work thanks to Adar as the life-giving force or energy. Thus, from a Zoroastrian perspective, fire is both a bestower of light and giver of life.

Discovery Of Fire

Scientists believe that Homo erectus, an early human ancestor of the early stone age period, was the first to master ‘controlled fire’ around one-and-a-half to two million years ago. It is assumed that the discovery of fire was accidental and that early humans might have initially been ‘fire foragers,’ meaning they may have observed and followed naturally occurring fires to benefit from them.

According to Ferdowsi’s ‘Shahnameh’, fire was accidentally discovered during the pre-historic Peshdad period by Shah Hooshang. As per legend, when Hooshang threw a rock at a serpent-like creature, it missed the target and instead struck another rock and sparks from that friction ignited some dry grass in the surrounding area. Hooshang recognized this fire as the Divine Glory of Ahura Mazda and instructed his subjects to offer homage.

In Greek mythology fire was not discovered but stolen from Zeus (the Greek God of thunder) by Prometheus who was one of the Titans – the son of Uranus (the Greek God representing the sky) and Gaia (the Greek God representing Earth), the mother or source of all life, including human beings. One can observe in this myth the link between thunder and lightening that originates in the sky and strikes earth.

While not creating life directly, lightning on early planet earth may have played a crucial role in providing essential building blocks for life, such as phosphorus and nitrogen, through reactions with atmospheric gases. This probably explains the myth of Prometheus (the name means one having foresight or forethought) who brings fire to earth from the sky through thunder.

Reverence Of Fire

Zoroastrians have revered fire since very ancient times. At Persepolis (the spring capital of the Great Achaemenian Kings) as also at the Persian Necropolis known more popularly in Iran as Naqsh-e-Rustom, one finds images of the Great Kings Darius, Xerxes and Artaxerxes praying before fire. The Parthians of ancient Iran too prayed at their Atroshan or ‘place of burning fire’ while the Sasanian kings established several Atash Bahram (Fire of Victory).

During the Sasanian dynasty there were three Great Victory-giving Fires (Atash Bahram) which we remember to this date when reciting the Atash Niyaesh or litany to the fire – Adur Gushnasp (fire of warriors), Adur Farnbag (fire of priests) and Adur Burzen-Mihr (fire of farmers)! All three were said to have come into the world at the beginning of creation and believed to have been kept burning by priests who tended them. Coins of the later Sasanian period, beginning with the founder, Ardashir, also carried the symbol of fire.

The holy month of Adar commemorates fire, the source of energy and dispeller of darkness. The Supreme Divinity or the Source of all Creation is unseen to the human eye and unconceivable to the ordinary human mind. However, fire is the closest that the human eye and mind can get to visualize or experience Divinity; since fire has no body and yet seems alive in the form of dynamic light, heat and energy. It seemingly coming from nowhere on kindling and disappear on dousing. Besides, it is gravity defying and always burns upward.

The term Adar is derived from Pahlavi Adur and Avesta Atar, which later on in Persian became Atas! In Zoroastrianism Adar Yazata represents Ahura Mazda as his Puthra (variously translated as son from Sanskrit Putra and by Ervad Kawasji Edulji Kanga as a ‘purifying force.’

Zoroastrians pay homage to the Creator through fire as the channel or medium. Adar is Hamkar (co-helper) of Ardibehesht (Avesta Asha Vahishta literally meaning ‘Best Truth’ or ‘Righteous Order.’) When a Zoroastrian prays before fire, he/she looks up to Ahura Mazda the Creator through fire as a form of Light and Life. Also, since Ardibehesht, along with Adar is the Divinity protecting fire and Ardibehesht is the embodiment of Truth and Righteousness (Asha Vahishta), praying before fire is an affirmation of upholding Truth and Righteousness in our lives. This is beautifully depicted in etchings at Persepolis where the Great Kings are depicted as praying before a fire alter and standing over three steps (probably symbolising the Zoroastrian triad of good thoughts, words and deeds) the left hand holding a bow (probably symbolising the king as a warrior in his battle against evil) and the right hand uplifted in prayer.