unto Vayu, and to whom the angel granted their boons, are Haoshyangha, Takhma Urupi, Yima, Thraetaona, Keresaspa, Aurvasara, Hutaosa, and such maidens as are not yet given in marriage.[1] Even the wicked Azhi Dahaka begged also of him a boon, but Vayu rejected his sacrifice.[2] Men sacrifice unto Vayu with libations and prayers and ask for strength to vanquish their adversaries.[3] Vayu asks Zarathushtra to invoke him, in order that neither Angra Mainyu, nor the sorcerers, nor the demons may be able to injure him.[4]
Atar
The fire cult in Iran. The cult of the sacrificial fire goes back to the Indo-European period. The Skt. word agni, 'fire,' has for its equivalent Latin ignis and Slavonic ogni. The most prominent divinity after Indra in the Vedas is Agni and more than 200 hymns and several stray passages are devoted to his glorification. The Iranian word for fire as well as for the Yazata presiding over fire is Atar. Among both the Indians and the Iranians fire occupies the central position in all rituals. The priest who tended the fire is known by a common name among both the peoples. Among the Indians he is atharvan and among the Iranians āthravan, literally meaning, 'one who tends fire.' A litany is composed in honour of Atar and he is celebrated in many other passages. The ninth month of the year and the ninth day of the month are named after Atar.[5]
Atar, or Fire, is most frequently called the son of Ahura Mazda in the Younger Avestan texts. The devout hunger in heart to reach Mazda through him as a mediary.[6] Asha Vahishta's association with the fire continues and they are often mentioned together. As the most holy symbol of his faith, the house-lord prays that the sacred element may ever burn in his house.[7] We have already seen that the Avesta speaks of some sacred fires consecrated by the pre-Zoroastrian kings in Iran. The Avestan works refer to the dāitya gātu, 'proper place,' for the fire, and the Old Persian Inscriptions speak of the āyadanā as the places of worship.[8] The bas-relief sculpture at Naksh-i
