A Trident near Baku

Walking into the Ateshgah all those years ago was an unparalleled experience of wonder and bewilderment  . Here before us finally, was the 'flame eternal' we had heard so much about, surrounded by the markings of intrepid travellers who had traipsed the Silk Route with wares and beliefs for centuries. Some beliefs just stayed where they were. 

It was a cold day when my colleague Roger and I hopped into a cab in Baku to make a trip to Ateshgah. I was obviously fascinated by the connections to India and the merchants of the fabled Silk Route. Roger was happy to get out of the hotel we had been trapped in working and did enjoy his history. The driver in broken English had us know that the 'Fire Temple of Baku' was a UNESCO World Heritage site and quite unique in several ways. 

No one really knows who built it . Legend has it that it was a caravanserai on the route that eventually became a home for several Hindu ascetics who performed punishing penances in there. And of course there was the flame! The flame burnt continuously in the sacrificial pit. They attributed it to divinity or a source of natural gas! Pick a team.  ‘Atesh’ in Persian means ‘fire’ and ‘gah’ is ‘home’ - ‘The Home of Fire’. An apt name indeed. More prosaically nowadays the flame is fed by gas pipelines from the Baku city gas supply. The end of divinity!

Located in the Absheron peninsula ,which is famous for oil oozing naturally from the rocks and bursting into flames, this octagonal complex was a home of worship for 3 religions - Hinduism , Sikhism and Zoroastrianism.  While the eponymous trident on the top of the temple would make you jump to the conclusion that it was a Shiva temple, there are versions that say the trident symbolises the Zoroastrian value trinity of ‘ good thoughts , words and deeds’ . Indeed there are records of ancient Persian visits to the temple of Fire in Absheron on holy Zoroastrian days.

On reaching the temple we walked around the complex which has been deemed a museum. I must say I was tempted to stay by the fire because of the cold but curiosity led me to visit each of the super tiny cells which had life size models of Indian priests in differing stages of penance. A separate area was clearly marked for the sacrificial animals. The inscriptions were the most fascinating bit. The Devanagari inscriptions on the wall were unmistakable in their invocations of the Lord Ganesha and 'Jwala ji’ (Fire) . The language was mostly Sanskrit or Punjabi . There were Persian quatrains written underneath  this particular inscription. 

After the usual round of photos we stood around in silence in this crumbling edifice taking it all in. What was once a bustling place of worship was now a silent ruin. What brought it to this pass? The invading Arab armies of 7th Century AD burnt it to the ground. The Silk Route collapsed after the sea routes opened up between Europe and Asia. The belief systems of the erstwhile merchants changed. There are explanations aplenty. What remains true is that this curious temple in the middle of nowhere was a cradle of disparate people coming together from times immemorial.