Ateshgah of Baku

The Baku Ateshgah, often referred to as the "Fire Temple of Baku" is a citadel-like religious temple in Surakhani town, a suburb in Baku, Azerbaijan. Based on Persian inscriptions, the temple changed into used as a Hindu, Sikh, and Zoroastrian region of worship. "Atash" is the Persian word for fire. The pentagonal complex, which has a courtyard surrounded with the aid of cells for priests and a tetrapillar-altar inside the center, become constructed at some point of the 17th and 18th centuries. It became deserted inside the past due nineteenth century, probably due to the dwindling of the Indian populace inside the region. The herbal everlasting flame went out in 1969, after nearly a century of exploitation of petroleum and fuel inside the area, however is now lit by gasoline piped from the nearby town.

The Baku Ateshgah changed into a pilgrimage and philosophical centre of Zoroastrians from Northwestern Indian Subcontinent, who have been involved in trade with the Caspian area through the famous "Grand Trunk Road". The four holy elements in their perception were: ateshi, badi, abi, and heki. The temple ceased to be a place of worship after 1883 with the installation of petroleum vegetation at Surakhany. The complex turned into changed into a museum in 1975. The annual quantity of visitors to the museum is 15,000.