What it means
آتشکده (âtashkade) means “fire temple”, Zoroastrian place of worship, where the sacred fire is kept burning continuously. Pure Persian compound, B1 vocabulary, sacred register. Iran’s pre-Islamic religious heritage; Zoroastrians remain a recognized minority today.
How to use it
- آتشکده یزد (âtashkade-ye Yazd) “Yazd Fire Temple” (Atash Behram)
- به آتشکده رفتیم (be âtashkade raftim) “We went to the fire temple”
- آتش مقدس آتشکده (âtash-e moqaddas-e âtashkade) “the sacred fire of the fire temple”
Common pairings
- زرتشتی (zartoshti) “Zoroastrian”
- اوستا (avestâ) “Avesta, Zoroastrian scripture”
- اهورامزدا (ahurâ-mazdâ) “Ahura Mazda, the Wise Lord”
- موبد (mowbed) “Zoroastrian priest”
- آتش بهرام (âtash-e bahrâm) “Atash Behram, the highest grade of sacred fire”
Religious context
Built from آتش (âtash, “fire”) + کده (kade, “house, dwelling”). The Zoroastrian tradition reveres fire as the visible symbol of Ahura Mazda’s truth and light, not as God itself, contrary to outsider misunderstanding. The آتش بهرام at Yazd has been continuously burning for over 1,500 years, making it among the oldest continuously kept ritual flames on earth. Iran’s constitution recognizes Zoroastrians as a protected minority with parliamentary representation. The community numbers roughly 25,000 today, mostly in Yazd, Kerman, and Tehran.
References
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