More than 300 years old temple of Durga Devi in the Muslim dominated country of Azerbaijan! 

Temple monument declared as a historic structure by the Government of Azerbaijan on the behalf of UNESCO

Baku – In the Muslim dominated Azerbaijan (95% Muslim population) there exists a temple of Devi Durga which is more than 300 years old. There is an oil lamp kept lit here continuously due to which this temple is also called as the ‘Temple of Fire’. Devotees have a faith that this flame represents Devi Bhagawati. Annually more than 15000 devotees visit this place to pay obeisance.

This temple has ancient architecture. It has an ancient trishul (Trident) and inscriptions on the walls in Gurumukhi language. Several centuries ago this route was used by Bharatiya traders. They would halt here to offer obeisance. It is said that one of these traders must constructed this temple. However, history states that Buddhadev hailing from Manda village in Haryana has built this temple. Inscriptions in stone within the temple indicate that Uttamchand and Shobraj have also contributed towards construction of this temple.

Devotees from Iran too would visit this temple for worship. Permanent priests were also appointed for the temple, however, after 1860 no priests stayed here. In 1975, the Azerbaijan Government converted this temple into a monument. Thereafter in 1998 the Government sent nomination for declaring this temple as a world heritage building to UNESCO. In the year 2007 the temple was declared as a world heritage site.