[1] Although Parsis first arrived in Madras between 1795 and 1809, when a group of six Parsis and two priests from Coorg landed in the city and bought land at Royapuram opposite the Catholic Church, there was no official priest in the community for over 100 years till 1906, and there was no place of worship until the fire temple was built.

[4] From 1887, the Madras Parsi Panchayat started collecting monthly contributions from members in the region for a Mobed Fund, chiefly intended to maintain a mobed (priest) and to eventually establish a place of worship, for which a significant contribution was made by Sir Dinshaw Petit of Bombay in 1896.

In 1907, Clubwala decided to gift the Madras Parsi Zarthosti Anjuman (the successor of the Panchayat[7]) a piece of land that he bought opposite his house on West Mada Church Street in Royapuram, after noting the slow progress of collections for the Mobed Fund and for a new fund that a committee of six was making efforts to swell.

[2] On 9 February 1909, the foundation stone for a fully equipped Agiari was laid by Hormusji Nowroji,[2] a civil engineer and president of the Parsi Anjuman for almost 45 years,[3] and an amount of ₹ 30,000 raised by the community was provided to maintain the temple.

Dosabhai Pavri had retired shortly before the consecration, and Ervad Hormasji Adarji Gai was appointed the new priest.

[6] The Parsis' ecclesiastical head in Madras, Ervad Peshotan Daji, affectionately called "Pesi", was associated with the fire temple for over 60 years.

During World War I, when the German warship SMS Emden bombed the Madras High Court premises, Royapuram was evacuated.