What is the term for a Zoroastrian place of worship?
Answer
Fire temple
Answer
Fire temple
A Zoroastrian place of worship is called a fire temple.
Fire temples house consecrated fires that worshippers approach with reverence and ritual purity. Zoroastrians do not worship fire as a deity; rather, fire is a visible symbol of truth, purity, divine light, and the presence of Ahura Mazda. The Persian terms atashgah and atashkadeh also mean, broadly, “place of fire.”
The temple fire is carefully tended by priests, who add dry, fragrant wood using metal tools and protect the flame from ritual pollution. The innermost sanctuary is usually separated from the public area, and access rules vary between Iranian and Indian Zoroastrian communities. Sacred ash may also be used in purification practices.
A common mix-up is to treat a fire temple as equivalent to a church, synagogue, or mosque. Those are houses of worship in other traditions; “fire temple” is the standard English term for this Zoroastrian institution. The highest-grade consecrated fires are called Atash Behram, or “Fire of Victory.”
Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026