Ateshgah Temple of Baku

History The temple of Ateshgah fire-worshipers occupies a prominent place among the historical and architectural monuments of Absheron.  This temple was built in the southeast of the Apsheron Peninsula, 30 km from Baku in the town of Surakhani.  Ateshgah means […]

     

History

The temple of Ateshgah fire-worshipers occupies a prominent place among the historical and architectural monuments of Absheron.  This temple was built in the southeast of the Apsheron Peninsula, 30 km from Baku in the town of Surakhani.  Ateshgah means a house of fire (fire at home and house).
This monument was built on a flat rock surface in place of the natural gas outlet. The natural ignition of gas emissions around the city of Baku was known since ancient times. The first temple was built in this place in ll century  BC, but after the conquest of the territory of Azerbaijan by the Arabs the first temple was destroyed. The modern temple in Surakhani was restored in the period from the XVII  to the XIX century.

Layout

All the cells were surrounded by a common wall at the end of the eighteenth century. The construction of the temple is pentagonal and resembles a caravanserai. The layout of the temple is quite simple, consists of 24 cells, a central altar and one guest room (called “balakhana”). In the middle of a large rocky courtyard is the main altar of the temple, built of limestone. The central altar was built in the form of a quadrangular rotunda of the pavilion open to all four sides. On the walls of the temple, there are many inscriptions. One of the inscriptions is Persian, the rest is in Hindi. The chronological framework covers the years 1713-1827.

Religious practices

At the beginning of the 19th century, 30 to 70 fire worshipers resided in the temple constantly according to various sources. They led an extremely ascetic lifestyle and conducted self-styled practices, such as wearing unbearably heavy chains or lying on unslaked lime. Life and eccentric rites are recreated with the help of mannequins in the cells of the museum. The number of pilgrims who visited the temple was much greater than the permanent residents of the temple. The needs of the permanent clergymen of the temple were paid by the Indian merchant Sobrye Makundas, who rented fishing in Salyan.

Nowadays

In the late 19th century, Baku was the center of industrial oil production. As a result of this production, the gas pressure in the temple began to decrease and finally died out. In 1883 the last fire-worshiper left the temple.
Today Ateshgah is a state historical and archaeological reserve, which is 1998 “Ateshgah” was submitted to UNESCO for inclusion on the World Heritage List.

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