Dag means Mountain and Yanar means Fire. Azerbaijan sits on a lot of oil and gas. Some of it has has been leaking thru gaps in the mountains and burning from time immemorial. This particular one is easily accessible for tourists.

We were touring the Ateshgah Zoroastrian Fire Temple. Inside the compound, around the sanctum sanctorum, there were many small rooms. They were used as abodes for the monks in the yesteryears. Today, they have different artifacts from those days.

In one of the rooms, you could hear constant chanting. Went in there.

Was in for a surprise. It looked like somebody was chanting hymns. And there was a person lying next to him. Presumably dying or dead.

But the chant itself was the interesting part. I could distinctly hear “Om!”, “Ganapati!”, “Namah!”, and similar words. In fact, there was a light display on the wall which had the “Om” written in Sanskrit!!

Later, I did some research and found out that this temple was used for worship by the Zoroastrians, Hindus, and Sikhs!

I had no idea!

It has a huge cobblestone yard.

Sitting for breakfast at the JW Marriott in Baku, we noticed this decor. They were pots hanging upside down. And the various plants were coming out downwards and then branching up. It looked great.

But that raised a question in my mind… how do they water the plants? I went nearby to inspect. There did not seem to be anything covering the bottom of the pots.

That is a mystery! Any ideas?

We did not realize this but we came on Novruz day – the New Year’s day in Azerbaijan. It is also when Ramadan ended – so there is a 10 day holiday and celebration galore all over the city. Especially, in the parks by the Caspian Sea.