Various religious sentiments prevail with dignity in India and one cannot find more distinctiveness and diversity in culture anywhere else than in Gujarat. Various districts of Gujarat have diverse cultural backgrounds and the presence of different religious groups have their style of temples and rituals. Zoroastrians or Parsis in India have a major presence in Gujarat which is worth a glance especially through their much celebrated and protected shrines known as fire temples or Parsi Agiari.

Types and History of Parsi Agiari

A fire temple is a place for the Zoroastrian people, for whom these temples are the primary place of worship. For them, fire and clean water are signs of purity of rituals and religion. Even though the ancient civilisations have proofs of fire being worshipped by Zoroastrians, the concept of fire temples was introduced much later in their religious practices. In India, when Parsis came to the country, they were believed to have brought ashes from such fires and placed them in certain places of their localization. Thereafter, temples were built inside which these fires were burnt and gradually, the fire temples or Parsi Agiari came into being. Most of these fire temples are found in the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat as the Parsi communities settled in these regions.

Udvada is one of the cities in which the Parsi Agiari can be found in Gujarat. There are metal urns in which the fire is kept burning or used for transporting the sacred burning fire. According to historians, the Parsi Agiari in Udvada is the oldest fire temple in India. From here, the ambers were taken to other existing fire temples. Literary, Agiari means the house of fire in local Gujarati parlance. As per the beliefs in Zoroastrian culture, the fires are of 3 types, of which the Atash Behram is the most sacred and powerful having the highest order of sanctity and it is burned always.

Presence of Parsi Agiari in Gujarat

Parsi Agiari in Udvada was possibly established in 1742. Two Agiaris are found in Surat established in 1823. The one at Navsari, considered to be the twin city of Surat, was constructed in 1765. Navsari is located at about 37 kms south of Surat. Besides these, four primary Parsi Agiaris are in Gujarat and a number of these can be found in the Indian in the state of Maharashtra.

Architecture of Fire Temples or Parsi Agiari

From the external look, a Parsi Agiari is mostly nondescript and inconspicuous. Not many designs and embellishments can be found. Most of these were built in India at around 19th century and reflect the traditional belief that the house of fire need not be highlighted from outside of the building. The entry is straight into a large congregation hall where the ceremonies take place. There is an anteroom, where the innermost sanctum is located, which is the place for the burning fire. The domes of the main room and the fire room are offset from each other, not allowing debris or rain water to seep into the fire chamber. The insides of all the rooms is tiled or marbled, but no other design work is usually found. Main priest of the Parsi Agiari is seen wearing a mask, when tending the fire and he has to receive the woods for the fire and has the exclusive permission to enter into the fire chamber. Non-Zoroastrians are not allowed into these fire temples, lest their gaze falls on the inner sanctum or the fire.