Fire temple
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A fire temple (Persian: آتشکده, romanized: ātashkade; Gujarati: અગિયારી, romanized: agiyārī)[a] is a place of worship for Zoroastrians.[1][2][3] In Zoroastrian doctrine, atar and aban (fire and water) are agents 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".[4] For, one "who sacrifices unto fire with fuel in his hand ..., is given happiness".[5]
As of 2021, there were 167 fire temples in the world, of which 45 were in Mumbai, 105 in the rest of India, and 17 in other countries.[6][7] Of these, only nine (one in Iran and eight in India) are the main temples known as Atash Behrams; the remainder are the smaller temples known as agiaries.
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- ^ Boyce 1975.
- ^ Boyce, Mary (1993), "Dar-e Mehr", Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. 6, Costa Mesa: Mazda Pub, pp. 669–670
- ^ 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): 665, doi:10.1017/S0041977X00127557, S2CID 162207182
- ^ Boyce 1975, p. 455.
- ^ Yasna 62.1; Nyashes 5.7
- ^ "List of Fire Temples". The Parsi Directory. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
- ^ Mathai, Kamini (12 July 2010). "Parsis go all out to celebrate milestone in Chennai". The Times of India. Chennai: The Times Group. Retrieved 24 Apr 2014.