The Ateshgah of Baku (, Middle Persian/ Pahlavi: Ātaš-kadag, "place or house of fire"), ), 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,С. Ашурбейли. «История города Баку: период средневековья». Изд. Абилов, Зейналов и братья, 2006. and Bhaga. Baku gets its name from Bagavan/Bagawan/Baguan/Bhagawan. It was called Bagavan during the Sassanian rule (224-651 CE).[Introduction to Baku's Temple of Eternal Fire by K T S Sarao https://www.researchgate.net/publication/370398211_KTSSaraoTemple_of_Eternal_Fiire_at_Baku] Baku's Temple of Eternal Fire, page 4-5, Bloomsbury India, 2021
"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."Introduction to Baku's Temple of Eternal Fire by K T S Sarao https://www.researchgate.net/publication/370398211_KTSSaraoTemple_of_Eternal_Fiire_at_Baku, Baku's Temple of Eternal Fire, page 2, Bloomsbury India, 2021
"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.
The Baku Ateshgah also became a pilgrimage and philosophical centre of Zoroastrians from the northwestern Indian subcontinent, who were involved in trade with the Caspian area via the famous "Grand Trunk Road". The four holy elements of their belief were: ateshi (fire), badi (air), abi (water), and heki (earth). The complex was converted into a museum in 1975. The annual number of visitors to the museum is about 15,000.
The Temple of Fire "Ateshgah" was nominated for inclusion on the List of World Heritage Sites, UNESCO in 1998 by Gulnara Mehmandarova. On December 19, 2007, it was declared a state historical-architectural reserve by decree of the President of Azerbaijan. Распоряжение Президента Азербайджанской Республики «Об объявлении территории Храма Атешгях в Сураханском районе города Баку Азербайджанской Республики Государственным историко-архитектурным заповедником „Храм Атешгях“»
Etymology The Persian word Atashgah (with Russian/Azerbaijani pronunciation: Atashgyakh/Ateshgah) literally means "home of fire." The Persian-origin term atesh (آتش) means "fire", and is a loanword in Azerbaijani. Gah (گاہ) derives from Middle Persian and means "place", "throne" or "bed". The name refers to the fact that the site is situated atop a now-exhausted natural gas field, which once caused natural fires to spontaneously burn there as the gas emerged from seven natural surface vents. A historical alternative name for Azerbaijan is Odlar Yurdu, which means "land of fires" in Azerbaijani.
The name Surakhani, the town where the Ateshgah is situated, is likely derived from the Persian word suraakh (سراخ), meaning "hole," and may thus be interpreted as "a region of holes". Alternatively, it could also allude to the fiery glow of the area, stemming from the Persian term sorkh or surkh (سرخ), meaning "red". The Sanskrit etymology of Surakhany conveys the meaning "mine of the gods", derived from sura, meaning "gods", who are opposed to the asuras, or demons. Surakhany in Caucasian Tat (the language of Surakhany, close to Persian) means “hole with the fountain”.
History
Surakhany is located on the Absheron Peninsula, which is famous for being a locality where oil oozes naturally from the ground and flames burn perpetually — as at Yanar Dagh — fed by natural hydrocarbon vapours issuing from the rock.
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.
"Seven holes with eternal fires" were mentioned by German traveler Engelbert Kaempfer, who visited Surakhany in 1683.Amoenitatum exoticarum politico-physico-medicarum fasciculi v, quibus continentur variae relationes, observationes & descriptiones rerum Persicarum & ulterioris Asiae, multâ attentione, in peregrinationibus per universum Orientum, collecta, ab auctore Engelberto Kaempfero. Lemgoviae, Typis & impensis H.W. Meyeri, 1712.
Writing in the 10th century, Estakhri mentioned that fire worshippers lived near Baku, presumably on the Apsheron Peninsula.Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Farisi al Istakhri. Ketāb al-masālek wa’l-mamālek This was confirmed by 10th century Armenian historian Movses Daskhurantsi in his reference of the province of Bhagavan (“Fields of the Gods” i.e., “Fire Gods”).History of the Caucasian Albanians by Movses Dasxuranci. Translated by C. J. F. Dowsett. London, 1961
In the 18th century, Atashgah was visited by Zoroastrians. The Persian handwriting Naskh inscription over the entrance aperture of one of the cells, which speaks about the visit of Zoroastrians from Isfahan:
Persian inscription:
Transliteration of Persian inscription:
ātaši saf kešide hamčon dak jey bovāni reside tā bādak sāl-e nav-e nozl mobārak bād goft xāne šod ru *sombole sane-ye hazār-o-sad-o-panjāh-o-haštom
Translation:Нейматова М. С.Корпус эпиграфических памятников Азербайджана, т. I, Баку, Елм, 1991
Fires stand in line Esfahani Bovani came to Badak [Baku]
"Blessed the lavish New Year", he said: The house was built in the month of Ear in year 1158.
The 1158 year corresponds to 1745 AD. Bovan (modern Bovanat) is the village near Esfahan. The word Badak is a diminutive of Bad-Kubeh. (The name of Baku in the sources of the 17th and 18th centuries was Bad-e Kube.) At the end of the reference is the constellation of Sombole /Virgo (August–September). In the name of the month the master mistakenly shifted the “l” and “h” at the end of the word. According to Zoroastrian calendar Qadimi New Year in 1745 AD was in August.
Interesting information about Zoroastrianism in Baku is given by D. Shapiro in A Karaite from Wolhynia meets a Zoroastrian from Baku.Dan Shapira, “A Karaite from Wolhynia Meets a Zoroastrian from Baku,” in Iran and the Caucasus, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2001, pp. 105-106 Avraham Firkowicz, a Karaite collector of ancient manuscripts, wrote about his meeting in Darband in 1840 with a fire-worshipper from Baku. Firkowicz asked him “Why do you worship fire?” The fire-worshipper replied that he worshipped not fire, but the Creator symbolised by fire - a “matter” or abstraction (and hence not a person) called Q’rţ’. Pahlavi Q’rţ’ (from Avestan kirdar or Sanskrit kṛt and कर्ता) signifies “one who does” or “creator”.
Structure
Some scholars have speculated that the Ateshgah may have been an ancient Zoroastrian shrine that was decimated by invading Islamic armies during the Muslim conquest of Persia and its neighbouring regions. It has also been asserted that, "according to historical sources, before the construction of the Indian Temple of Fire (Atashgah) in Surakhany at the end of the 17th century, the local people also worshipped at this site because of the 'seven holes with burning flame'.".
The present shrine is of Northern Indian rather than of a Persian foundation, especially not of ancient Sasanian origins, but the site itself may have been used by Zoroastrians ages ago.
Fire is considered sacred in Hinduism and Zoroastrianism (as Agni and Atar, respectively), and there has been debate on whether the Atashgah was originally a Hindu structure, or a Zoroastrian one. The trident mounted atop the structure is usually a distinctly Hindu sacred symbol (as the Trishula, which is commonly mounted on temples) and has been cited by Zoroastrian scholars as a specific reason for considering the Atashgah as a Hindu site. However, an Azerbaijani presentation on the history of Baku, which calls the shrine a "Hindu temple", identifies the trident as a Zoroastrian symbol of "good thoughts, good words and good deeds"., The trident symbol is not associated with Zoroastrianism.
One early European commentator, Jonas Hanway, grouped Zoroastrians, Sikhs, and Hindus together in terms of their religious beliefs: "These opinions, with a few alterations, are still maintained by some of the posterity of the ancient Indians and Persians, who are called Gebers or Gaurs, and are very zealous in preserving the religion of their ancestors; particularly in regard to their veneration for the element of fire." Geber is a Persian term for Zoroastrians, while Gaurs are a priestly Hindu caste. A later scholar, A. V. Williams Jackson, drew a distinction between the two groups. While stating that "the typical features which Hanway mentions are distinctly Indian, not Zoroastrian" based on the worshipers' attires and tilakas, their strictly vegetarian diets and open veneration for cows, he left open the possibility that a few "actual Gabrs (i.e. Zoroastrians, or Parsis)" may also have been present at the shrine alongside larger Hindu and Sikh groups.
Indian residents and pilgrims
In the late Middle Ages, there were significant Indian communities throughout Central Asia. By the Caspian sea, Indian merchants from the Multan region of Punjab, alongside the Armenians, controlled much of the commercial economy (see also Multani Caravanserai). Much of the woodwork for ships on the Caspian was also done by Indian craftsmen. Some commentators have theorized that the Indian community may have been responsible for the construction or renovation of the Ateshgah.
As European scholars and explorers began to arrive in Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, they documented their encounters with numerous Hindus at the shrine, as well as Sikh pilgrims traveling through the regions between North India and Baku.
Samuel Gottlieb Gmelin's Reise durch Russland (1771) is cited in Karl Eduard von Eichwald's Reise in den Caucasus (Stuttgart, 1834) where the naturalist Gmelin is said to have observed Yogi austerities being performed by devotees. Geologist Eichwald restricts himself to a mention of the worship of Rama, Krishna, Hanuman and Agni.. In the 1784 account of George Forster of the Bengal Civil Service, the square structure was about 30 yards across, surrounded by a low wall and containing many apartments. Each of these had a small jet of sulphurous fire issuing from a funnel "constructed in the shape of a Hindu altar." The fire was used for worship, cooking and warmth, and would be regularly extinguished.
"The Ateshgyakh Temple looks not unlike a regular town caravansary - a kind of inn with a large central court, where caravans stopped for the night. As distinct from caravansaries, however, the temple has the altar in its center with tiny cells for the temple's attendants - Indian ascetics who devoted themselves to the cult of fire - and for pilgrims lining the walls.".
Zoroastrian residents and pilgrims