Ik Kil Cenote, Mexico

Last week, I reminisced about my vacation to Mexico and let you in on the fascinating information that I had the pleasure of learning while visiting the Chichen Itza site. I touched on everything from Mayan architecture to human sacrifice to how the Mayans used astronomy in their daily lives.

But the most beautiful, breathtaking site we went to that day wasn't man-made at all.

For those of you who don't know (and I didn't), a cenote (pronounced se-no-teh) is essentially a natural sinkhole that is most common in Mexico and Central America. It forms when limestone collapses, revealing the water underneath.

This particular cenote is called the Sacred Blue Well, or Ik Kil, and it is said that this is where the Kings and their courts enjoyed contact with nature, for meditation and rest.
The cenote itself is perfectly round, at around 200 feet in diameter, is 130 feet deep, and is actually located 85 feet below ground level. A grand stairway made of limestone, slowly leads you down to the pristine, crystal clear water.

I made my way down the staircase, making deliberate moves while clutching onto the chains at the side for fear of slipping down the limestone steps that were covered in a trail of wet footprints.
When I reached the bottom, all I could do was look up at the sky, the warm sun shining down illuminating my surroundings. I studied the cenote in awe, sure that this type of thing only existed in paintings and stories. My eyes followed the long trails of vines that hung from the opening leading all the way down to the water, accompanied by small waterfalls. It was too beautiful to even be real.
What else could I do? I launched my body into the water. It was warmer than I had expected but still cold. It was hot that day, with the sun beating down on us, and after a long morning looking at Mayan ruins, it was a burst of refreshment that I needed.
I floated on my back in the water, making sure to take in everything, not forgetting the details, which over time, can become blurred memories of something wonderful. I let the water incase me while surrounded by vines and the sounds of running waterfalls.

I would go back again just to see that.

Chichen Itza, Mexico: The Observatory

Yesterday, I told you a bit about the Chichen Itza site, and all about El Castillo, The Great Ballcourt, The Wall of Skulls, The High Priests' Temple, and touched on some Mayan mythology. But today it's all about one of the most interesting (and coolest) structures at Chichen Itza - The Observatory also known as El Caracol, which means "The Snail". It gets its name from the stone spiral staircase inside.

"This structure is a circular astronomical observatory built on a large square platform. The spiral staircase inside the building leads to the top observatory chamber designed with windows for astronomical observations. (We were also told there's carvings on the walls and roof showing the constellations, but unfortunately, this site is no longer open to the public) From those windows, Mayan astronomers noted the positions of the Sun, the Moon’s greatest northern and southern declinations, and the passages of Venus. They used the shadows inside the room cast from the angle of the Sun hitting the doorway, for example, to tell when the solstices would occur.

The Maya regarded everything as closely related to their notion of time. For them, the need to record and to determine certain events in time, as well as the need to foresee the regular occurrence of astronomical, religious and social events, resulted in the invention of one of the most accurate calendars in history. The Maya calendar is considered the most complex, intricate and accurate among ancient calendars. Some claim that the calculations of the congruence of the 260-day and the 365-day Maya cycles are almost exactly equal to the actual measured solar year in the tropics, with only a 19-minute margin of error.

A "clock" can be anything we can use to measure time. The Maya used light and shadow cast in edifices, zenotes, and other bodies to track time. At the tropical latitudes of the Mayan cities, for example, the sun passes directly over head twice per year. Very accurate timing could be achieved by determining just when this happened - sort of like setting your watch. The Maya sought to understand the repetitive cycles of motions of the moon and planets, and thus to be able to predict when these bodies would be in certain places on the sky in the future. The planet Venus was very important and the tabulation of the appearances of Venus was used to predict the future.

For the Maya, the sky, their calendars, and mythology were integrated into a single system of belief. The patterns of the stars in the Milky Way or constellations, were directly related to their vision of Creation. The Maya called the Milky Way galaxy World Tree, which was represented by a tall tree, the Ceiba, reaching up to where all life came from.

The Maya also referred to the Milky Way as the Wakah Chan, which means “White Boned Serpent.” They believed to be connected to the cosmos. In fact, Kuxan Suum is a Mayan concept that means literally the “path in the sky to the center of the universe.”

There is also evidence to suggest the Maya were the only pre-telescopic civilization to demonstrate knowledge of the Orion Nebula. What supports this theory is a Mayan legend related to the Orion constellation they called Xibalba. They referred to the nebula as smoke from burning copal incense. Scholars believe this is significant, and it gives credence to the idea that the Maya detected a diffuse area of the sky before the telescope was invented.

There is no astronomy without mathematics. And the Maya astronomy was no exception. Mayan mathematics is the most sophisticated mathematical system ever developed in the Pre-Columbian Americas. The ancient Mayas discovered two fundamental ideas in mathematics: place notation and zero. That the Mayas understood the concept and value of zero is extraordinary and astonishing, for at that time most of the world’s civilizations had no concept of zero." (Source)

Isn't that so incredible? The trip to Chichen Itza will be one that I will never forget, and if you ever get the chance, trust me and jump at it.

Chichen Itza, Mexico

Last year, I went on vacation to the Mayan Riviera, Mexico for a friend's wedding and had the wonderful opportunity to visit Chichen Itza, one of the new Seven Wonders of the World.

Believe me when I say, this was such an amazing, fascinating experience. Not only are you seeing these incredible structures that were built around 600 AD but you are learning about Mayan civilization; their daily life and culture.

Chichen Itza was built by The Maya who were an ancient civilization of southern Mexico and the Central American countries of Guatemala, Honduras Belize and El Salvador. Today there are an estimated 6 million Maya living in these regions and speaking a variety of Maya languages.

This site has mystified thousands of people for hundreds of years and what fascinated me most was how advanced the Mayans were. Every detail of what they built was thought out and extremely well-planned, and they based their daily life off of astrology and were extraordinarily good astronomers themselves.

El Castillo, is a square-based, stepped pyramid that is approximately 75 feet tall that was constructed around 1000-1200 AD. There are 91 steps on each of the four sides, leading to the throne room at the top making a total of 365. (Which is, as you know, the number of days in a year). The stairways divide the nine terraces of each side of the pyramid into eighteen segments, representing the eighteen months of the Mayan calendar.

One of the most fascinating features of this pyramid happens twice a year, during the Spring and Autumn equinox. The sun is in exactly the correct position to cast a shadow which resembles a snake descending to the ground. (This would happen in the left side of the pyramid shown in the first photo) It is said that this was constructed this way in connection to agricultural rituals.

Unfortunately, because of vandalism to the pyramid over time, people are no longer allowed to climb or go inside in order to preserve it's beauty.

El Castillo was actually built on top of another temple, which wasn't discovered until the 1930's. After several false starts, they discovered a staircase under the north side of the pyramid. By digging from the top, they found another temple buried below the current one. You can see the excavations in this photo, which began in 2006.
From this photo, you can also see on the left side that the entire pyramid has not been restored. A local hotel actually came to the site long ago and stole pieces of the pyramid before the restoration began and used it to build parts of their hotel. Since archaeologists will not replicate any of the structure, unless these pieces are given back, El Castillo will never be fully restored. Locals are currently petitioning against the hotel. 

This is the Great Ballcourt of Chichen Itza, where a ball game would be played consisting of two teams. It has no vault, no discontinuity between the walls and is totally open to the blue sky. A whisper from end can be heard clearly enough at the other end 500 feet far away and through the length and breath of the court.
The sound waves are unaffected by wind direction or time of day and also night. Archaeologists engaged in the reconstruction noted that the sound transmission became more and more strong and clear as they proceeded.
In 1931 Leopold Stokowski spent 4 days at this site to determine the acoustic principals that could be applied to theater for an open-air concert he was designing. Stokowski failed to learn the secret. Today it has not been explained.

The object of the game was to get the ball through the stone hoop. This was extremely difficult, so if it actually happened the game would be over. Points could also be scored by tossing the balls so that it touched the ring. Players of the game couldn't hold or touch the ring. Other basic rules were applied to the game as well, the ball could not touch the ground and players couldn't hold or touch the ball with their hands - only the elbows, knees, hips, and head were used. The players were very skillful, and the ball could stay in the air for an hour or more.
The player who won the game by getting the ball through the stone hoop, was then declared the winner, and in return would be decapitated. Legends have also said that it is the winning Captain who would present his head. Of course, for us, it seems strange to fight to win just to die but for the Mayans it was considered the ultimate honour, and would lead to heaven.

On either side of the ballcourt, royalty would sit to observe the games.

Here's a closer look at the structure that the Mayan Kings and family would sit at, you can still see hints of the colour that was used even back then that hasn't completely vanished over time. You can also see the elaborate carvings that were etched into the stone. These types of carvings were seen throughout the entire stretch of the ballcourt, often depicting images of warriors.

This is the Wall of Skulls, or the Tzompantli, where the heads of the sacrificed were placed as a sort of shrine to the game. You can make out the carvings of each individual skull in the stone.

These two pictures are interesting because you see in the first photo, that the structure, which is called The High Priests' Temple (although it isn't believed that this was a tomb or that priests were buried here) has been restored. And in the second photo, our tour guide is pointing out what it would've looked like when it was first discovered. This, in actual fact, was a painting, since colour film didn't exist back then.
Another interesting fact, in some religions, the serpent or snake represents evil or the devil but in Mayan mythology, the serpent actually represents rebirth.

Did I mention that we saw of ton of these little guys? Seriously. Everywhere.

P.S. Stay tuned for tomorrow's post about my favourite structure that we saw at the Chichen Itza site!