Baku Fire Temple
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Cultural
Description
Baku Fire Temple (Ateshgah)
The Baku Ateshgah or "Fire Temple" is a castle-like religious structure in Surakhani, on the Abseron Peninsula, 30 km from Baku. It was a place of sacrifice founded above a natural gas vent. The pentagonal complex which is similar to the caravanserais (travellers’ inns) of the region has a courtyard surrounded by cells for monks and a tetra-pillar-altar in the middle of the temple complex where fire rituals were observed. The altar is situated right a natural gas vent, igniting a large flame in the middle and four smaller flames on the rooftop corners of the pavilion. Surrounding the temple altar is a number of small cells which held the ascetic worshippers and pilgrims.
The structure was built during the 17th and 18th centuries. It was abandoned after 1883 when oil and gas plants were established in the vicinity. Heavy exploitation of the natural gas reserves on the peninsula resulted in the exhaustion of the flame in 1969. The flames seen today are fed by Baku’s main gas supply. In 1975, the complex was turned into a museum, and in 1998, it was nominated as an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Now receives 15,000 visitors a year.
Debate continues as to whether this temple was founded as a Zoroastrian or a Hindu place of worship, since the structure incorporates architectural elements from both faiths, without wholly adhering to either. The most established theory places the temple in the Zoroastrian tradition, but that it has evolved into a predominantly Hindu place of worship over time.