DID YOU KNOW? 💡 📜 One of the first & OLDEST Zoroastrian temples sites is located in Baghlan province of Afghanistan. Surkh Kotal, or ‘Atashkadeh-ye Sorkh Kowtal’ meaning “Red Pass.” The Greeks called it Palamedes. This ancient site, located 14km north of Pul-e-Khumri and 232km from Kabul, is a masterpiece of the 1st century CE. The fire temple is believed to have been built by the Kushan emperor Kanishka I (c. 50–120 CE), and a statue of the emperor was even discovered within the temple. Surkh Kotal was not just a temple—it was a grand sanctuary constructed on five ascending terraces, crowned by the main sanctuary at the summit. Visitors would climb a monumental stairway, rising 55 metres in four flights to reach the topmost terrace, where the central room housed a square stone platform with three steps, surrounded by four pillar bases. This sacred site, known locally in later times as ‘Kafir Kala’ or “Fortress of the Infidels,” was neglected for centuries and never studie...