The Magical Charm of Baku-I: Ateshgah

What's the importance of just six days in the life of a person? Apparently, not much! But, if these six days are spent in exploring the magical charm of a city like Baku, the Capital of #Azerbaijan, it casts a magical spell on you and adds memorable experiences to your life!

I had several unforgettable experiences during my recent visit to Baku in the first week of September 2024 along with my children. Since all the experiences cannot be covered in a single article, I will cover only Ateshgarh, the Fire Temple, in this first Article on the topic, celebrating the World Tourism Day!

'Atesh' is the Persian term meaning 'Fire' and 'gah' seems to be influenced by Sanskrit term'Grah' for 'home'. It is a pentagonal complex built with stone having several cells for worship and a central courtyard where an eternal fire is said to be burning. The complex was built during 17th & 18th Centuries and was a pilgrimage and philosophical centre, visited by saints and scholars belonging to Zoroastrains, Persian, Islamic and Indian faiths for worship.

It was unbelievable in present times that such a centre exists in an Islamic country, Azerbaijan, where you can see cells for worship of Lord Ganesh and Nataraj and Sikhism with religious inscriptions carved in stone in Persian, Sanskrit and Gurmukhi languages and Aarti of Ganesh Ji being recited continuously in a cell, Here are some pictures to prove that.

Another picture presents two inscriptions on a single cell entrance, one in Sanskrit mentioning Lord Ganesh and Jwala Ji in Sanskrit and another one in Persian about the Fire.

Yet another cell is devoted to the worship of Lord Shiva, or the 'Nataraj' as shown in the picture above the Title of this Article.

We were totally amazed to find one of cell doors with the 'Mool Mantra' of Sikhism inscribed in Gurmukhi language.

In a world where people are divided on the basis of religion and faith, it is a welcome sight to find such a place of worship where saints and philosophers of various faiths have worshipped and held discourse on spiritual awakening of humanity.

More about Baku in next articles.

#baku #azerbaizantourism #worldtourismday #ateshgah #religion #tourism #spirituality