Ateshgah Fire Temple
Pentagonal fire temple at Surakhani, built by Indian merchants and a museum since 1975.
The temple stands at Surakhani on the Absheron peninsula, where natural gas once seeped from the ground and burned of its own accord. The pentagonal complex that survives was raised in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by Indian merchants, many from Multan, who traded through Baku; inscriptions carved above the cells carry dates equivalent to 1745. A square altar with four open sides and a central flame stands in the middle of the courtyard, ringed by monks' cells and pilgrim rooms in the manner of a caravanserai.
Worship here was mixed: Hindu, Sikh and Zoroastrian devotees all used the site, and the carved inscriptions are in Sanskrit, Punjabi and Persian. The natural flame died in 1969 after oil and gas extraction drained the reservoir beneath, and the fire is now fed by the city gas supply. The complex became a museum in 1975 and was declared a state historical and architectural reserve in December 2007. Displays in the cells cover the caravan trade, local fire worship and the history of the site.
Highlights
- Pentagonal courtyard with a four-sided altar at its centre
- Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Punjabi and Persian above the cells
- Natural seepage flame burned here until 1969
- State historical and architectural reserve since 2007
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