Herodotus, in his ‘Histories’, as also Strabo and other Greek writers aver that early Achaemenians did not have temples or enclosed places of worship. Cicero states that Xerxes the Great considered it to be sacrilegious to keep Divinity, whose home is the whole universe, enclosed within walls. However, Xenophon records that the Persians in his times did have a hearth fire for praying. On the Astodan (tomb) to the Great Kings – Darius, Xerxes and Artaxerxes, there are images depicting them praying before a simple open fire altar, prevalent even today at Naqsh-e-Rustom.

Origin of Fire-temples in Ancient Iran

Fire-temple construction likely gained prominence after the Achaemenian Empire’s fall, influenced by Greek practices, as Persians built temples to discourage Zoroastrians from frequenting the many temples established by Greeks.

The Arsacid (Parthian) king, Vologases I (Valkash) is credited in the Pahlavi Denkard for ordering the collection, preservation and restoration of the scattered sacred Avesta texts. This initiative was aimed towards restoring Zoroastrian religious tradition, following the conquest of Alexander. Parthian fire temples, known as atroshan or bagin, were generally simple, square structures designed to protect the sacred fire, rather than house large congregations, like the Kuh-e Khwaja in Sistan.

During the Sasanian era, Atash Behram were built by kings, starting with Ardashir Babakan to celebrate military victories and the founding of new cities. Sasanian High Priest, Kartir, in his famous inscription at Naqsh-e-Rajab also declared having played a role in establishing several Atash Bahram. The Pahlavi Vendidad lists sixteen kinds of fires which are to be purified and brought to the Atash Bahram.

Fire temples in India

Today, we find several fire temples across Mumbai and in various parts of Gujarat. However, for several centuries after the Parsis came to India there was only one sacred Atash Bahram – the one consecrated in Sanjan in 721 AD, currently housed in Udwada. The second Atash Bahram in Navsari was established in 1765 AD, after over a thousand years. This is because daily worship was centred around the hearth fire which devotees called Atash Dadgah or fire installed in its proper place at home. Muktad were observed at home and not at fire temples. Even funeral ceremonies were conducted at home with the place where the dead body was placed for sachkar being cordoned for a full year and an oil lamp kept burning there.

For several centuries, there were no Agiyaries with perpetually burning fires. Instead, each Parsi settlement had a Yazisngah, a modest structure where priests performed rituals. Fire for these ceremonies was sourced from embers carried from their own hearths. Even the renowned Vadi Dar-e-Meher in Navsari, established in 1142, did not initially house a perpetually burning fire until much later. It functioned as a ritual space, with fire brought in from nearby Parsi homes as required. Incidentally, the term Dar-e-Meher means the ‘Court of Meher’ (Yazata) who is considered the ‘Lord of Rituals.’ In the Zoroastrian tradition most rituals are performed in the Hawan Gah which is presided over by Mehr Yazad.

Grades of Consecrated Fire

Consecration is an act or manner of making the ordinary sacred or worthy of reverence through ritual purification. There are three grades of Fire. The highest is Atash Bahram or the Fire of Victory. In India there are four Atash Bahram in Mumbai, two in Surat, one in Navsari and one the oldest one in Udwada, which has been continuously burning for over a thousand years. It is called Iranshah as it is the first Holy Fire that we consecrated in India after coming from Iran, using the Aalaat (sacred ritual requisites, including the Holy Ash) brought from Khorasan in Iran. The building housing the Atash Bahram in Yazd, Iran was built in 1934. However, the sacred fire it houses is believed to have been burning since approximately 470 AD.

Ancient Fires

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).

Adur Gushnasp was considered the Greatest of the Great Fires by the Sassanian monarchs who were themselves of the warrior class. The fact that this Great Fire blazed at what is today known as Takht-e-Soleyman in the West Azerbaijan Province of Iran, is archaeologically attested. Gushnasp alludes to a myth concerning the flame of this fire attached to the mane of a stallion that Shah Kay Kosrow of the pre-historic Kayan dynasty rode.

Adur Farnbag is believed to have blazed at Pars (modern-day Fars) in Southern Iran. Farnbag alludes to glory or good fortune. The priests of Sasanian times believed that this fire originated during the reign of Shah Jamshid during the pre-historic Peshdad dynaty.

Adur Burzen-Mihr was the fire of farmers and believed to be the fire of Mihr or Meher – the Divinity responsible for fertile fields and fighting the demons of drought and poor harvest. This fire is believed to have blazed in north-eastern Iran.

Spiritual Fires in Yazd

In the Zoroastrian villages of Cham and Zainabad in Yazd, Iran, there are legendary ‘flying fires.’ These natural fires were found burning spontaneously on cypress or mulberry trees, potentially triggered by lightning or extreme desert heat. These fires require no rituals or daily ceremonies. Devout keepers, known as Atashband, have maintained these fires with great care. The four fires at Zainabad which are now housed in one dark room, exude a rare energy that cannot be described in words.

Atashgah at Baku (Azerbaijan)

Atashgah means the ‘ordained place of the fire’ and Azarbaijan means ‘land of fires’. The Baku Atashgah also known as the Fire Temple of Baku, is an ancient religious shrine in Baku’s suburban Surakhany town. The fire was originally fed by natural naphtha gas from the ground. Based on Persian and Indian inscriptions on the inner walls, this shrine is believed to have been used as a Hindu, Sikh and Zoroastrian place of worship.

The pentagonal complex, featuring a central courtyard enclosed by monastic cells and a four-pillared altar, was constructed during the 17^th and 18^th centuries, but later abandoned in the late 19^th century, likely due to the decline of the Indian trading community in the region. The natural eternal flame extinguished in 1969 after prolonged petroleum extraction nearby, but is now sustained by piped gas. The Baku Atashgah once served as a key pilgrimage and philosophical hub for traders along the Grand Trunk route in the Caspian area.