CONSECRATION OF AN ATASH BAHRAM

The fire-temples are divided into three grades. The Fire belonging to the first grade is that enshrined in an ATASH BAHRAM, the second is the Fire of an ADARYAN and the third is the DADGAH Fire. There are 8 Atash Bahrams in India, the most sacred being the Iranshah at Udwada. Among others, one is in Navsari, two are in Surat and four are in Bombay. The 8 Atash Bahrams are:

IRANSHAH ATASH BAHRAM IN UDWADA.

ANJUMAN ATASH BAHRAM IN NAVSARI.

DADISETT ATASH BAHRAM IN BOMBAY.

MODI ATASH BAHRAM IN SURAT.

VAKIL ATASH BAHRAM IN SURAT.

WADIAJI ATASH BAHRAM IN BOMBAY.

BANAJI ATASH BAHRAM IN BOMBAY.

ANJUMAN ATASH BAHRAM IN BOMBAY.

An Atash Bahram fire is consecrated through an elaborate series of rituals during which the highest laws of purity are maintained by the priests involved in the process, the bringing together of the sixteen fires representing the natural order as well as the different trades and classes of ancient Iranian society, reflects the universality of the Atash Bahram Fire. The fire of lightning, for example, is collected when lightning strikes the earth and is witnessed by two Zorastrians; whilst the sixteenth fire, the household fire of a Zorastrian is made by the priest by first creating a fire through friction using flint stones or twigs and then mixing it with fire from the hearth of a Behdin.

The sixteen fires required for the consecration of an Atash Bahram(FIRE OF VICTORY) are as under: FIRE OF:

1. A BURNING CORPSE.
2. DYER.
3. KING OR RULING AUTHORITY.
4. POTTER.
5. BRICK-MAKER.
6. ASCETIC.
7. GOLDSMITH(OR ALCHEMIST)
8. MINT.
9. IRONSMITH
10. ARMOURER.
11. BAKER.
12. BREWER, DISTILLER OR IDOL-WORSHIPPER.
13. SOLDIER OR TRAVELER.
14. SHEPHERD.
15. ATMOSPHERIC ELECTRICITY.
16. ZORASTRIAN, THAT IS A DASTUR (HEAD-PRIEST), A MOBED (PRIEST) OR A LAYMAN AND OF FRICTION BY FLINT AND PIECES OF WOOD.
    

This extract has been taken from the book A BRIEF HISTORY OF ANJUMAN ATASH-BAHRAM-MUMBAI (1897-1997).