Importance of fire in our religion

Fire is worshipped as Agni, the energy that is needed for civilisation to flourish.
Fire is perhaps the most important discovery by the caveman. So, it is natural that fire is worshipped. Excavations at places where ancient civilisations flourished have shown that fire worship was indeed very prevalent. However, among presently common religions, very few worship fire, and we are one of them.

In the Puja Room, we have the Deepam. Here, the burning wick signifies our ego, which disappears slowly in the holy fire of divinity.
In Yagnas, we have the Homam. The purpose of Homam is to purify. Fire is a purifier-spiritually and literally.

Homams have a very important place in our society. Only special materials like ghee, cowdung cakes, etc are allowed to be given to the Agni in the Homa Kundam. These, when burnt, emit peculiar chemical compounds that purify the surroundings. In fact, during the Bhopal gas tragedy which killed many people in a vast area around the factory, one family living not too far from the plant was spared. It was found that the "Agnihotri Homam" was being regularly performed in that house, and the substances emitted neutralized the toxic fumes from Union Carbide!

Here, I am tempted to write about Parsees, as they have fire worship as central to their religion. Studies have shown that Hindus and Parsees have common roots. Indeed, fire worship was very common in parts of the middle east until the advent of Islam.

Then, fate united our long separated brethren with us, when these people came as refugees and settled in India! It is interesting to note that Parsees have something like a vest that is given to them in a special ceremony-like the Yagnopaveetham worn by Hindus. Also, the Zendavesta, the Parsi holy book has a lot of similarities with the Rig Veda!

Also, there is a fire temple in Baku, Azerbaijan, which is near Persia. This temple sits on top of an old oil field. Here, oil and gas from below the ground came up through seven holes and burned, and was worshipped by Parsees/Hindus.
Today, it is a heritage site maintained by the Azerbaijan government. While decades of oil mining has exhausted the natural fire, today a fire is maintained by pumping fuel through the holes.