A Zoroastrian Fire Temple is a place of worship for Zoroastrians. Zoroastrianism (Avestan Daênâ Vañuhi the good religion)[1][2] is the religion and philosophy based on the teachings ascribed to the prophet Zoroaster (Zarathustra, Zartosht). ...

Although Zoroastrians revere fire in any form, the temple fire is not literally for the reverence of fire: In Zoroastrianism, fire (see Atar), together with clean water (see Aban), is an agent of ritual purity. Clean, white "ash for the purification ceremonies [is] regarded as the basis of ritual life", which "are essentially the rites proper to the tending of a domestic fire, for the temple [fire] is that of the hearth fire raised to a new solemnity" (Boyce, 1975:455). See also Atar, Mauritania. ... In Persian mythology, Aban is the name of an angel who presides over iron. ...

For, one "who sacrifices unto fire with fuel in his hand, with the Baresman in his hand, with milk in his hand, with the mortar for crushing the branches of the sacred Haoma in his hand, is given happiness" (Yasna 62.1; Nyashes 5.7) Haoma is the Avestan language name of a plant and its divinity, both of which play a role in Zoroastrian doctrine and in later Persian culture and mythology. ... See Avesta Municipality for the Swedish town Yasna 28. ...

History and Development

The concept

Main article: Atar, Zoroastrian fire.

The Zoroastrian cult of fire is much younger than Zoroastrianism itself and appears at approximately the same time as the shrine cult, first evident in the 4th century BCE (roughly contemporaneous with the introduction of Atar as a divinity). There is no allusion to a temple cult of fire in the Avesta proper, nor is there any old Persian language word for one. Moreover, Boyce suggests that the temple cult of fire was instituted in opposition to the image/shrine cults (an alien form of worship inherited from the Babylonians), and "no actual ruins of a fire temple have been identified from before the Parthian period" (Boyce, 1975:454). See also Atar, Mauritania. ... See also Atar, Mauritania. ... Sketch of the first column of the Behistun Inscription Old Persian is the oldest attested Persid language. ...

That the cult of fire was a doctrinal modification and absent from early Zoroastrianism is still evident in the later Atash Nyash: in the oldest passages of that liturgy, it is the hearth fire that speaks to "all those for whom it cooks the evening and morning meal", which Boyce observes is not consistent with sanctified fire. The temple cult is an even later development: From Herodotus it is known that in the mid-5th century BCE the Zoroastrians worshipped to the open sky, ascending mounds to light their fires (The Histories, i.131). Strabo confirms this, noting that in the 6th century, the sanctuary at Zela in Cappadocia was an artificial mound, walled in, but open to the sky (Geographica XI.8.4.512). This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Histories of Herodotus by Herodotus is considered the first work of history in Western literature. ... The Greek geographer Strabo in a 16th century engraving. ... Map showing Cappadocia as a province of the Armenian Empire under Tigranes the Great Photo of a 15th Century map showing Capadocia. In ancient geography, Cappadocia (or Capadocia) (from Persian: Katpatuka meaning the land of beautiful horses, Greek: Καππαδοκία; see also List of traditional Greek place names; Turkish Kapadokya) was an... The Geographika is an extensive work by Strabo, spanning 17 volumes, and can be regarded as an encyclopedia of the geographical knowledge of his time; except for parts of Book 7, it has come down to us complete. ...

By the Hellenic Parthian era (250 BCE–226 CE), Zoroastrianism had in fact two kinds of places of worship: One, apparently called bagin or ayazan, sanctuaries dedicated to a specific divinity, constructed in honor of the patron saint/angel of an individual or family and included an icon or effigy of the honored. The second were the atroshan, the "places of burning fire" became more and more prevalent as the iconoclastic movement gained support. Following the rise of the Sassanid dynasty, the shrines to the Yazatas continued to exist, with the statues – by law - either being abandoned as empty sanctuaries, or being replaced by fire altars. Parthia[1] (Middle Persian: اشکانیان Ashkâniân) was a civilization situated in the northeast of modern Iran, but at its height covering all of Iran proper, as well as regions of the modern countries of Armenia, Iraq, Georgia, eastern Turkey, eastern Syria, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Kuwait, the Persian Gulf... Antiochus and the Yazata Dae-pa-Meher or Mithra (right, with radiate phrygian cap) A Yazata is one of a group of divinities in Mazdaism and Zoroastrianism. ...

Also, as Schippman observed (loc. Cit. Boyce, 1975:462), even during the Sassanid era (226–650 CE) there is no evidence that that the fires were categorized according to their sanctity. "It seems probable that there were virtually only two, namely the Atash-i Vahram [literally: "victorious fire", later misunderstood to be the Fire of Bahram, see Gnoli, 1993:512] and the lesser Atash-i Adaran, or 'Fire of Fires', a parish fire, as it were, serving a village or town quarter" (Boyce, 1975:462; Boyce 1966:63). Apparently, it was only in the Atash-i Vahram that fire was kept continuously burning, with the Adaran fires being annually relit. While the fires themselves had special names, the structures themselves did not, and it has been suggested that "the prosaic nature of the middle Persian names (kadag, man, and xanag are all words for an ordinary house) perhaps reflect a desire on the part of those who fostered the temple-cult [...] to keep it as close as possible in character to the age-old cult of the hearth-fire, and to discourage elaboration" (Boyce, 1987:9). The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Empire (Persian: ‎ Sasanian) is the name used for the fourth Iranian dynasty, and the second Persian Empire (226 - 651). ...

Following the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah (636 CE) and the Battle of Nihawānd (642 CE), both of which were instrumental to the collapse of the Sassanid Empire and state-sponsored Zoroastrianism, most fire temples in Greater Iran were either destroyed or converted into mosques. Many Zoroastrians fled, (according to one legend) taking a fire with them, which although not essential to worship, probably served as a reminder of the faith of their increasingly persecuted community. The Battle of al-Qādisiyyah (in Arabic: معارك القادسيّة, alternate spellings: Qadisiyya, Qadisiyyah, Kadisiya) was the decisive engagement between the Arab Muslim army and the Sāsānian Persian army during the first period of Islamic expansion which resulted in the Islamic conquest of Iran. ... Combatants Muslim Arabs Sassanid Empire The Battle of Nihawānd was fought in 642 between Arab and Sassanid. ... Greater Iran (in Persian: ایران بزرگ pron: Iran-e Bozorg, also ایران‌زمین pron: Iran-zameen) is a term for the Iranian plateau in addition to the entire region where Iranian languages are today spoken as a first language, or as a second language by a significant minority. ...

Archaeological traces

The oldest remains of what has been identified as a fire-temple are those of the Kuh-e Khwajeh, near Lake Hamun in Sistan. Only traces of the foundation and ground-plan survive and have been tentatively dated to the 3rd or 4th century BCE. The temple was rebuilt during the Parthian era (250 BCE-226 CE), and enlarged during Sassanid times (226–650 CE). Kuh-e Khwajeh aerial view of Rostam Castle Kuh-e Khwajeh’ citadel view Kuh-e khwajeh Eastern Slope, known as Kuk-i Kohzadh One of the Kuh-e Khwajeh Murals Kuh-e Khwajeh (Persian کوه خواجه, kuh-e xwājé) Mount Khwajeh, also spelled Kuh-e Khajeh, Kuh-i Khaja, is a... Lake Hamun is a lake in the Province of Sistan and Baluchistan, Iran. ... Categories: Iran geography stubs | Provinces of Iran ... Parthia[1] (Middle Persian: اشکانیان Ashkâniân) was a civilization situated in the northeast of modern Iran, but at its height covering all of Iran proper, as well as regions of the modern countries of Armenia, Iraq, Georgia, eastern Turkey, eastern Syria, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Kuwait, the Persian Gulf... The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Empire (Persian: ‎ Sasanian) is the name used for the fourth Iranian dynasty, and the second Persian Empire (226 - 651). ...

The characteristic feature of the Sassanid fire temple was its domed sanctuary where the fire-altar stood. (Boyce, 1987:9-10) This sanctuary always had a square ground plan with a pillar in each corner that then supported the dome (the gombad). Archaeological remains and literary evidence from Zend commentaries on the Avesta suggest that the sanctuary was surrounded by a passage way on all four sides. "On a number of sites the gombad, made usually of rubble masonry with courses of stone, is all that survives, and so such ruins are popularly called in Fars čahār-tāq or 'four arches'." (Boyce, 1987:10) See Avesta Municipality for the Swedish town Yasna 28. ...

The remains of Adur Gushnasp, as seen from across the crater at the Takht-i-Suleiman.

Ruins of temples of the Sassanid era have been found in various parts of the former empire, mostly in the southwest (Fars, Kerman and Elam), but the biggest and most impressive are those of Adur Gushnasp in Media Minor (see also The Great Fires, below). Many more ruins are popularly identified as the remains of Zoroastrian fire temples even when their purpose is of evidently secular nature, or are the remains of a temple of the shrine cults, or as is the case of a fort-like fire temple and monastery at Surkhany, Azerbaijan, that unambiguously belongs to another religion. The remains of a fire-altar, most likely constructed during the proselytizing campaign of Yazdegerd II (r. 438-457) against the Christian Armenians, have been found directly beneath the main altar of the Echmiadzin Cathedral, the Mother See of the Armenian Apostolic Church (Russell, 1993). The remains of a probable fire-temple, later converted to a church, have been found within the ruins of the abandoned medieval Armenian city of Ani (see VirtualAni.org ). Image File history File links Parthian_azarbaijan. ... Image File history File links Parthian_azarbaijan. ... Takht e Soleyman, or Takht e Soleiman, is the holiest shrine of Zoroastrism and Sassanid Empire, now a World Heritage Site near the town of Takab in West Azarbaijan, Iran. ... // Introduction Fars is one of the 30 provinces of Iran. ... Image:Kirman. ... Elam (Persian: تمدن ایلام) is one of the oldest recorded civilizations. ... Municipality: Baku Area: 1000 km² Altitude: -28 m Population: 2,074,300 census 2003 Population density: 1280 persons/km² Postal Code: AZ10 Area code: +99412 Municipality code: BA Latitude: 41° 01 52 N Longitude: 21° 20 25 E Weather types: 9 of 11 Mayor: Hajibala Abutalybov The Baku region. ... Yazdegerd II, (made by God, Izdegerdes), king of Persia was the son of Bahram V Gor and reigned from 438 to 457. ... Echmiadzin or Ejmiatsin (Armenian: Էջմիածին) is the holiest town in Armenia and the headquarters of the katholikos, the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. ... Official standard of Karekin II Catholicos of Armenia The Armenian Apostolic Church (Armenian: Հայ Առաքելական Եկեղեցի), sometimes called the Armenian Orthodox Church or the Gregorian Church, is the worlds oldest national church and one of the most ancient Christian communities. ...

The legendary Great Fires

Apart from (relatively) minor fire temples, three were said to derive directly from Ahura Mazda, thus making them the most important in Zoroastrian tradition. These were the "Great Fires" or "Royal Fires" of Adur Burzen-Mihr, Adur Farnbag, and Adur Gushnasp. The legends of the great fires are probably of antiquity (see also Denkard citation, below), for by the 3rd century CE, miracles were said to happen at the sites and the fires were popularly associated with other legends such as those of the folktale heroes Fereydun, Jamshid and Rustam. Ahura Mazda is the Avestan language name for an exalted divinity of ancient proto-Indo-Iranian religion that was subsequently declared by Zarathustra (Zoroaster) to be the one uncreated creator of all (God). ... Fereydun is an Iranian mythical king and hero who is an emblem of victory, justice and generosity in the Persian literature. ... Jamshid (in Persian: ‎) is a common Persian male first name. ... Rostam (رستم Rostæm in Persian) is a mythical warrior of ancient Persia, son of Zal and Rudabe. ...

The Bundahishn, a Zoroastrian view of creation finished in the 11th or 12th century CE, states that the Great Fires had existed since creation and had been brought forth on the back of the ox Srishok to propagate the faith, dispel doubt, and to protect all humankind. Other texts observe that the Great Fires were also vehicles of propaganda and symbols of imperial sovereignty. Category: ...

The priests of these respective "Royal Fires" are said to have competed with each other to draw pilgrims by promoting the legends and miracles that were purported to have occurred at their respective sites. Each of the three is also said to have mirrored social and feudal divisions: "The fire which is Farnbag has made its place among the priests; ... the fire which is Gūshnasp has made its place among the warriors; ... the fire which is Būrzīn-Mitrō has made its place among agriculturists" (Denkard, 6.293). These divisions, from an archaeological point of view, are most revealing, since from at least the 1st century BCE onwards, society was divided into four, not three, feudal estates.

The Farnbag fire (translated as 'the fire Glory-Given' by Darmesteter) was considered the most venerated of the three because it was seen as the earthly representative of the Atar Spenishta, 'Holiest Fire' of Yasna 17.11 and described in a Zend commentary on that verse as the "the one burning in Paradise in the presence of Ohrmazd." James Darmesteter (March 28, 1849 - October 10, 1894), French author and antiquarian, was born of Jewish parents at Chateau Salins, in Alsace. ... See also Atar, Mauritania. ... See Avesta Municipality for the Swedish town Yasna 28. ... Zend can mean: the Zend Avesta, an ancient Zoroastrian text Zend Technologies, a leader in PHP applications Zend engine, an open-source scripting engine Salla Zend, a character in Star Wars This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same... Ahura Mazda is the Avestan language name for an exalted divinity of ancient proto-Indo-Iranian religion that was subsequently declared by Zarathustra (Zoroaster) to be the one uncreated creator of all (God). ...

Although "in the eyes of [contemporary] Iranian Zoroastrian priests, the three fires were not 'really existing' temple fires and rather belonged to the mythological realm" (Stausberg, 2004:134), several attempts have been made to identify the locations of the Great Fires. In the early 20th century, A. V. Jackson identified the remains at Takht-i-Suleiman, midway between Urumieh and Hamadan, as the temple of Adur Gushnasp. The location of the Mithra fire, i.e. that of Burzen-Mihr, Jackson "identified with reasonable certainty" at being near the village of Mihr half-way between Miandasht and Sabzevar on the Khorasan road to Neyshabur (Jackson, 1921:82). The Indian (lesser) Bundahishn records the Farnbag fire having been "on the glory-having mountain which is in Khwarezm" but later moved "upon the shining mountain in the district of Kavul just as it there even now remains" (IBd 17.6). That the temple once stood in Khwarezm is also supported by the Greater (Iranian) Bundahishn and by the texts of Zadsparam (11.9). However, according to the Greater Bundahishn, it was moved "upon the shining mountain of Kavarvand in the Kar district" (the rest of the passage is identical to the Indian edition). Darmesteter identified this 'Kar' as Kariyan in Pars (Persia proper), "celebrated for its sacred fire which has been transported there from Khvarazm as reported by Masudi" (Jackson, 1921:89). If this identification is correct, the temple of the Farnbag fire then lay 10 miles southwest of Juwun, midway between Jahrom and Lar. (28°1'N, 53°1'E) Takht e Soleyman, or Takht e Soleiman, is the holiest shrine of Zoroastrism and Sassanid Empire, now a World Heritage Site near the town of Takab in West Azarbaijan, Iran. ... Categories: Iran geography stubs | Cities in Iran ... Avicennas tomb in Hamedan Hamadan or Hamedan ( Persian: همدان ) is the capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran. ... Tomb of Meulana Hosein Kashefi, Sabzevar. ... Nishapur (or Neyshâbûr; نیشابور in Persian) is a town in the province of Khorasan in northeastern Iran, situated in a fertile plain at the foot of the Binalud Mountains, near the regional capital of Mashhad. ... Khwarezmid Empire (1190-1220) Khwarezm (Uzbek: Xorazm, Russian: Хорезм Khorezm, Persian: خوارزم Khwārazm, Arabic: خوارزم Khwārizm, Chinese: 花剌子模 Hualazimo) was a state centred on the Amu Darya river delta of the former Aral Sea, in modern Uzbekistan, extending across the Ust-Urt plateau and possibly as far west as the eastern shores... For other places with the same name, see Kabul (disambiguation). ... Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn al-Husayn Masudi (أبو الحسن ØŒ علي بن الحسين المسعودي) (?, Baghdad , Iraq - 956, Cairo,Egypt), was an Arab historian, geographer and philosopher. ... Jahrom is a city in Fars province, Iran. ... Lar is a city in Fars Province in the south of Iran. ...

The Udvada Atash-Behram

According to Parsi (Indian Zoroastrian) legend, when (over a thousand years ago) one group of refugees from (greater) Khorasan landed in Western Gujarat, they had the ash of such a fire with them. This ash, it is said, served as the bed for the fire today at Udvada. (Boyce & Kotwal, 2006) A Parsi (Gujarati: PārsÄ«, IPA: ), sometimes spelled Parsee, is a member of the close-knit Zoroastrian community based in the Indian subcontinent. ... Nader Afshars tomb in Mashad. ... Gujarāt (GujarātÄ«: , IPA: ,  ) is a state in the Republic of India. ... The Fire temple in Udvada Udvada is a town in Gujarat, renowned for the Iranshah Âtash Bahrâm, the oldest and most famous of the Parsi Fire temples. ...

This fire temple was not always at Udvada. According to the Qissa-i Sanjan, 'Story of Sanjan', the only existing account of the early years of Zoroastrian refugees in India and composed at least six centuries after their arrival, the immigrants established a Atash-Warharan, 'victorious fire' (see Warharan for etymology) at Sanjan. Under threat of war (probably in 1465), the fire was moved to the Bahrot caves 20 kms south of Sanjan, where it stayed for 12 years. From there, it was moved to Bansdah, where it stayed for another 14 years before being moved yet again to Navsari, where it would remain until the 18th century. It was then moved to Udvada were it burns today. The Qissa-i Sanjan (or Kisse-i Sanjan, the Story of Sanjan) is an account of the early years of Zoroastrian settlers on the Indian subcontinent. ... Vahrām or Bahrām (modern Persian, var: Behrām; middle Persian: Warahran) is the Zoroastrian concept of victory over resistance and, as the hypostasis of victory, is one of the principal figures in the Zoroastrian pantheon of yazatas. ... Sanjan is the second station in Gujarat (the first station is Umergaon) just inside the Gujarat-Maharashtra border, when travelling on the Western Railway line. ... Navsari is a city and a municipality in Navsari district in the Indian state of Gujarat. ...

Silver coin of Yazdegerd II with a fire altar and two attendants.

Although there are numerous eternally burning Zoroastrian fires today, with the exception of the 'Fire of Warharan', none of them are more than 250 years old. The legend that the Indian Zoroastrians invented the afrinagan (the metal urn in which a sacred fire today resides) when the moved the fire from Sanjan to the Bahrot caves is unsustainable. Greek historians of the Parthian period reported the use of a metal vase-like urn to transport fire. Sassanid coins of the 3rd-4th century CE likewise reveal a fire in a vase-like container identical in design to the present-day afrinagans. The Indian Zoroastrians do however export these and other utensils to their co-religionists the world over. Image File history File links YazdII.jpg Sassanid king. ... Image File history File links YazdII.jpg Sassanid king. ... Yazdegerd II, (made by God, Izdegerdes), king of Persia was the son of Bahram V Gor and reigned from 438 to 457. ...

Fire Temples Today

Nomenclature

The Chicago Dar-e Mihr

One of the more common technical terms - in use - for a Zoroastrian fire temple is dar be-mehr, romanized as darb-e mehr or dialectically slurred as dar-e mehr. The etymology of this term, meaning 'Mithra's Gate' or 'Mithra's Court' is problematic. It has been proposed that the term is a throwback to the age of the shrine cults, the name being retained because all major Zoroastrian rituals were solemnized between sunrise and noon, the time of day especially under Mithra's protection. Etymological theories see a derivation from mithryana (so Meillet) or *mithradana (Gershevitch) or mithraion (Wilcken). It is moreover not clear whether the term referred to a consecrated inner sanctum or to the ritual precinct. (Boyce, 1996:21-22) Image File history File links Download high resolution version (889x595, 46 KB) Summary Picture of the inside sanctuary of the Chicago Dar-e Mihr. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (889x595, 46 KB) Summary Picture of the inside sanctuary of the Chicago Dar-e Mihr. ...

Among present-day Iranian Zoroastrians, the term darb-e mehr includes the entire ritual precinct. It is significantly more common than the older atashkada, a Classical Persian language term that together with its middle Persian predecessors (atash-kadag, -man and -xanag) literally means 'house of fire'. The older terms have the advantage that they are readily understood even by non-Zoroastrian Iranians. In the early 20th century, the Bombay Fasilis (see Zoroastrian calendar) revived the term as the name of their first fire temple, and later in that century the Zoroastrians of Tehran revived it for the name of their principal fire temple. Persian (Local names: فارسی Fârsi or پارسی Pârsi)* is an Indo-European language spoken in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan as well as by minorities in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, India, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ... Pahlavi is a term that refers: (1) to a script used in Iran derived from the Aramaic script, and (2) more broadly, to Middle Persian, the Middle Iranian language written in this script. ... The Zoroastrian calendar is a religious calendar used by members of the Zoroastrian faith, and it is an approximation of the (tropical) solar calendar. ...

A modern Agiary in Western India

The term darb-e mehr is also common in India, albeit with a slightly different meaning. Until the 17th century the fire (now) at Udvada was the only continuously burning one on the Indian subcontinent. Each of the other settlements had a small building in which rituals were performed, and the fire of which the priests would relight whenever necessary from the embers carried from their own hearth fires (Kotwal, 1974:665). The Parsis called such an unconsecrated building either dar-be mehr or agiary. The latter is the Gujarati language word for 'house of fire' (Kotwal, 1974:665) and thus a literal translation of atashkada. In recent years, the term dar-be mehr has come to refer to a secondary sacred fire (the dagdah) for daily ritual use that is present at the more prestigious fire temples. Overseas, in particular in North America, Zoroastrians use the term dar-be mehr for both temples that have an eternally burning fire as well as for sites where the fire is only kindled occasionally. This is largely due to the financial support of such places by one Arbab Rustam Guiv, who preferred the dialectic Iranian form. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 461 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (500 × 650 pixel, file size: 140 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) This photograph was shot by myself (Rayomand Ichhaporia) in March 2004. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 461 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (500 × 650 pixel, file size: 140 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) This photograph was shot by myself (Rayomand Ichhaporia) in March 2004. ... Satellite image of the Indian subcontinent Map of South Asia (see note) This article deals with the geophysical region in Asia. ... is an Indo-Aryan language, part of the greater Indo-European language family. ...

Classification

The Yazd Atash Behram

Functionally, the fire temples are built to serve the fire within them, and the fire temples are classified (and named) according the grade of fire housed within them. There are three grades of fires, the Atash Dadgah, Atash Adaran, and Atash Behram. Download high resolution version (2011x1501, 603 KB)Main Fire Temple in Yazd, Iran July 2004 File links The following pages link to this file: Zoroastrianism Dari (Zoroastrian) Categories: GFDL images ... Download high resolution version (2011x1501, 603 KB)Main Fire Temple in Yazd, Iran July 2004 File links The following pages link to this file: Zoroastrianism Dari (Zoroastrian) Categories: GFDL images ...

The Atash Dagdah is the lowest grade of sacred fire, and can be consecrated within the course of a few hours by two priests, who alternatingly recite the 72 verses of the Yasna liturgy. Consecration may occasionally include the recitatation of the Vendidad, but this is optional. A lay person may tend the fire when no services are in progress. The term 'Dagdah' is not necessarily a consecrated fire, and the term is also applied to the hearth fire, or to the oil lamp found in many Zoroastrian homes. See Avesta Municipality for the Swedish town Yasna 28. ... See Avesta Municipality for the Swedish town Faravahar, believed to be a depiction of a Farvashi, as mentioned in the Yasna, Yashts and Vendidad The Avesta is a collection of the sacred texts of the Mazdaist (Zoroastrian) religion. ...

The next highest grade of fire is the Atash Adaran, the 'Fire of fires'. It requires a gathering of hearth fire from representatives of the four professional groups (that reflect feudal estates): from a hearth fire of the asronih (the priesthood), the (r)atheshtarih (soldiers and civil servants), the vastaryoshih (farmers and herdsmen) and the hutokshih (artisans and laborers). Eight priests are required to consecrate an Adaran fire and the procedure takes between two and three weeks.

The highest grade of fire is the Atash Behram, 'Fire of victory', and its establishment and consecration is the most elaborate of the three. It involves the gathering of 16 different 'kinds of fire', that is, gathered from 16 different sources, including lightening, fire from a cremation pyre, fire from trades where a furnace is operated, and fires from the hearths as is also the case for the Atash Adaran. Each of these is then subject to a purification ritual before it joins the others. 32 priests are required for the consecration ceremony, which can take up to a year to complete.

A temple that maintains an Adaran or Behram fire also maintains at least one Dagdah fire. In contrast to the Adaran and Behram fires, the Dagdah fire is the one at which priests then celebrate the rituals of the faith, and which the public addresses to invoke blessings for a specific individual or family or event. Veneration of the greater fires is addressed only to the fire itself - that is, following the consecration of such a fire, only the Atash Nyashes, the litany to the fire in Younger Avestan, is ever recited before it. Avestan is an Eastern Old Iranian language that was used to compose the sacred hymns and canon of the Zoroastrian Avesta. ...

A list of the nine Atash Behrams:

• Yezd Atash Behram in Yazd, Iran. Established 1932.
• Iranshah Atash Behram in Udvada, India. Established 1742.
• Desai Atash Behram in Navsari, India. Established 1765.
• Vakil Atash Behram in Surat, India. Established 1823.
• Modi Atash Behram in Surat, India. Established 1823.
• Wadia Atash Behram in Mumbai, India. Established 1830.
• Banaji Atash Behram in Mumbai, India. Established 1845.
• Dadiseth Atash Behram in Mumbai, India. Established 1873.
• Anjuman Atash Behram in Mumbai, India. Established 1897.

Yazd or Yezd (In Persian: یزد), is the capital of Yazd province, one of the most ancient and historic cities in Iran and a centre of Zoroastrian culture. ... The Fire temple in Udvada Udvada is a town in Gujarat, renowned for the Iranshah Âtash Bahrâm, the oldest and most famous of the Parsi Fire temples. ... Navsari is a city and a municipality in Navsari district in the Indian state of Gujarat. ... For other uses, see Surat (disambiguation). ... “Bombay” redirects here. ...

Physical attributes

The outer facade of a Zoroastrian fire temple is almost always intentionally nondescript and free of embellishment. This may reflect ancient tradition (supported by the prosaic nature of the technical terms for a fire temple) that the principle purpose of a fire temple is to house a sacred fire, and not to glorify - what is otherwise - simply a building.

The basic structure of present-day fire temples is always the same. There are no indigenous sources older than the 19th century that describe a Iranian fire temple (the 9th century theologian Manushchir observed that they had a standard floor plan, but what this might have been is unknown), and it is possible that the temples there today have features that are originally of Indian origin. (Stausberg, 2004:175,405) On entry one comes into a large space or hall where congregation (also non-religious) or special ceremonies may take place. Off to the side of this (or sometimes a floor level up or down) the devotee enters an anteroom smaller than the hall he/she has just passed through. Connected to this anteroom, or enclosed within it, but not visible from the hall, is the innermost sanctum (in Zoroastrian terminology, the atashgah, literally 'place of the fire' (Boyce, 1993:669-670) in which the actual fire-altar stands.

A temple at which a Yasna service (the principal Zoroastrian act of worship that accompanies the recitation of the Yasna liturgy) may be celebrated will always have, attached to it or on the grounds, at least a well or a stream or other source of 'natural' water. This is a critical requirement for the Ab-Zohr, the culminating rite of the Yasna service. See Avesta Municipality for the Swedish town Yasna 28. ... Ab-Zohr (āb-zōhr) is the culminating rite of the greater Yasna service, the principal Zoroastrian act of worship that accompanies the recitation of the Yasna liturgy. ...

Only priests attached to a fire temple may enter the innermost sanctum itself, which is closed on at least one side and has a double domed roof. The double dome has vents to allow the smoke to escape, but the vents of the outer dome are offset from those of the inner, so preventing debris or rain from entering the inner sanctum. The sanctum is separated from the anteroom by dividers (or walls with very large openings) and is slightly raised with respect to the space around it. The wall(s) of the inner sanctum are almost always tiled or of marble, but are otherwise undecorated. There are no lights - other than that of the fire itself - in the inner sanctum. In Indian-Zoroastrian (not evident in the modern buildings in Iran) tradition the temples are often designed such that direct sunlight does not not enter the sanctuary.

In one corner hangs a bell, which is rung five times a day at the boi - literally, '[good] scent' (Stausberg, 2004:115) - ceremony, which marks the beginning of each gah, or 'watch'. Tools for maintaining the fire - which is always fed by wood - are simply hung on the wall, or as is sometimes the case, stored in a small room (or rooms) often reachable only through the sanctum.

In India and in Indian-Zoroastrian communities overseas, non-Zoroastrians are strictly prohibited from entering any space from which one could see the fire(s). This is not a doctrinal requirement (that is, it is not an injunction specified in the Avesta or in the so-called Pahlavi texts) but has nonetheless developed as a tradition. It is however mentioned in a 16th century Rivayat epistle (R. 65). In addition, entry into any part of the facility is sometimes reserved for Zoroastrians only. This then precludes the use of temple hall for public (also secular) functions. Zoroastrians insist though that these restrictions are not meant to offend non-Zoroastrians, and point to similar practices in other religions.

Worship

When the adherent enters the antechamber before a fire sanctum he or she will offer bone-dry sandalwood (or other sweet smelling wood) to the fire. This is in accordance with doctrinal statutes expressed in Vendidad 18.26-27, which in addition to enumerating which fuels are appropriate, also reiterates the injunctions of Yasna 3.1 and Yashts 14.55 that describe which fuels are not (in particular, any not of wood). See Avesta Municipality for the Swedish town Faravahar, believed to be a depiction of a Farvashi, as mentioned in the Yasna, Yashts and Vendidad The Avesta is a collection of the sacred texts of the Mazdaist (Zoroastrian) religion. ... See Avesta Municipality for the Swedish town Yasna 28. ...

In present-day Zoroastrian tradition, the offering is never made directly, but placed in the care of the celebrant priest who, wearing a cloth mask over the nostrils and mouth to prevent pollution from the breath, will then - using a pair of silver tongs - place the offering in the fire. The priest will use a special ladle to proffer the holy ash to the layperson, who in turn daubs it on his or her forehead and eyelids, and may take some home for use after a Kushti ceremony.

A Zoroastrian priest does not preach or hold sermons. Fire Temple attendance is particularly high during seasonal celebrations (Gahambars), and especially for the New Year (Noruz). Norouz (also spelled Norooz, Noruz, Naw-Rúz or Nowrouz) is the traditional Iranian festival of the New Year which starts at the exact moment of the vernal equinox, commencing the start of the spring. ...

Bibliography

• Boyce, Mary (1975). "On the Zoroastrian Temple Cult of Fire". Journal of the American Oriental Society 95 (3): 454-465. 
• Boyce, Mary (1996). "On the Orthodoxy of Sasanian Zoroastrianism". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 59 (1): 11-28. 
• Boyce, Mary. (1987). "Ātaškada". Encyclopaedia Iranica 2: 9-10. Cosa Mesa: Mazda Pub.
• Boyce, Mary. (1993). "Dar-e Mehr". Encyclopaedia Iranica 6: 669-670. Cosa Mesa: Mazda Pub.
• Boyce, Mary and Kotwal, Firoze. (2006). "Irānshāh". Encyclopaedia Iranica 13. Cosa Mesa: Mazda Pub. Retrieved on 2006-09-06.
• Drower, Elizabeth Stephens (1944). "The Role of Fire in Parsi Ritual". The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 74 (1/2): 75-89. 
• Gnoli, Gherardo. (1993). "Bahram in old and middle Iranian texts". Encyclopaedia Iranica 3: 510-513. Cosa Mesa: Mazda Pub.
• Kotwal, Firoz M. (1974). "Some Observations on the History of the Parsi Dar-i Mihrs". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 37 (3): 664-669. 
• Russel, J. R.. (1989). "Atrušan". Encyclopaedia Iranica 3. Cosa Mesa: Mazda Pub.
• Stausberg, Michael (2004). Die Religion Zarathushtras (Band 3). Stuttgart: Kohlhammer. ISBN 3-17-017120-8. 

For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... September 6 is the 249th day of the year (250th in leap years). ...

Further reading

• Photography of Zoroastrians at Chak Chak – many pictures of Zoroastrians worshipping
• Atash Behrams in India
• Fire Temples