Can you imagine what the world must have been like around 1500 BC? It would be like a land that is uninhabited, lush green and no one knows what's on the other side of the forest or across the river. This was the situation of our Mayan ancestors eons ago who wandered the Mesoamerican basin searching for a place to settle down. For a race that considered water being the most sacred among all elements, a great location to set up a settlement could have been close to its source, which means a cave.
The significance of caves to the Mayans
Ancient civilizations in Mesoamerica including the Mayans had a multi-pronged approach towards caves. Not only is it perceived as a fountain of water in the means of rainfall and streams, a cave acted as a temple of the Mayans, as an edge between the other world and this world and also being a place of art expression. Among the two, this world is visible and very much appreciated by those who are exploring the Mayan ruins through historical adventure tours.
The Mayans believed that the caves are a residence of their Rain God Chaak and where they conducted a lot of different rituals to pay homage to their rain deity. Are you one of those history lovers who would really like to witness this worship? Then all you need to do is to undertake adventure tours to the Mayan site in Guatemala called Peten as there is a chasm named Grieta. By examining the cave environment closely from within you'll find bits and pieces of several rain related rituals. A different cave that worked as a Mayan temple centered on the Rain God was discovered to feature a stalagmite sculpted to appear like the deity as well as with a lightening axe.
Having deduced that a number of Mayan temples are fortified by underground passages the archaeologists realized the significance of the caves during the Mayan civilization; these passages underground also played on a seminal role in cosmology. Evidently, these subway or surface features provided as canvas for aspiring artists as well thereby affirming the fact that cave art was among the first forms of artistic expressions taken on by the human race. A great deal of the content revolved around natural surroundings on the subject of creatures coexisting with mankind, footprints, and handprints along with geometric patterns.
Black and red are some of the most commonly used colors adorning the walls of a Mayan temple while shades of blue and yellow were hardly seen. Whilst charcoal was relied upon as a resource for black sometimes some other elements such as manganese were furthermore resorted to for getting black pigmentation. Red was obtained from inside of the cave itself courtesy of clay which comprised a high percentage of iron. Because this particular red had an orange tinge to it, artists who have been desirous of shades that are deeper and brighter utilized hematite in order to complete the end result.
The Mayan caves were seen to have rock sculptures, glyphs carved out of stones and other objects produced from precious elements such as obsidian and jade. The fact that a cave in the Mayan era was deemed sacred and therefore served as a Mayan temple was validated by the altars of worship and pieces of pottery found by adventure tourists. Worship was perhaps individual or communal and although the first sort entailed leaving a part of pottery in certain other part of the cave, the latter required ceremonial pottery for usage with the altar of worship.
Mayans just like other Mesoamerican tribe deemed the caves as being linked to life and death believing that anything emerging from the cave was born into the world and anyone going into the recesses of the cave was departing from the world which means facing death. Hence if you would like take a journey down the memory lane and also live through the lives of our 'cave-dwelling' ancestors, then you should give a Mayan temple a visit.
The significance of caves to the Mayans
Ancient civilizations in Mesoamerica including the Mayans had a multi-pronged approach towards caves. Not only is it perceived as a fountain of water in the means of rainfall and streams, a cave acted as a temple of the Mayans, as an edge between the other world and this world and also being a place of art expression. Among the two, this world is visible and very much appreciated by those who are exploring the Mayan ruins through historical adventure tours.
The Mayans believed that the caves are a residence of their Rain God Chaak and where they conducted a lot of different rituals to pay homage to their rain deity. Are you one of those history lovers who would really like to witness this worship? Then all you need to do is to undertake adventure tours to the Mayan site in Guatemala called Peten as there is a chasm named Grieta. By examining the cave environment closely from within you'll find bits and pieces of several rain related rituals. A different cave that worked as a Mayan temple centered on the Rain God was discovered to feature a stalagmite sculpted to appear like the deity as well as with a lightening axe.
Having deduced that a number of Mayan temples are fortified by underground passages the archaeologists realized the significance of the caves during the Mayan civilization; these passages underground also played on a seminal role in cosmology. Evidently, these subway or surface features provided as canvas for aspiring artists as well thereby affirming the fact that cave art was among the first forms of artistic expressions taken on by the human race. A great deal of the content revolved around natural surroundings on the subject of creatures coexisting with mankind, footprints, and handprints along with geometric patterns.
Black and red are some of the most commonly used colors adorning the walls of a Mayan temple while shades of blue and yellow were hardly seen. Whilst charcoal was relied upon as a resource for black sometimes some other elements such as manganese were furthermore resorted to for getting black pigmentation. Red was obtained from inside of the cave itself courtesy of clay which comprised a high percentage of iron. Because this particular red had an orange tinge to it, artists who have been desirous of shades that are deeper and brighter utilized hematite in order to complete the end result.
The Mayan caves were seen to have rock sculptures, glyphs carved out of stones and other objects produced from precious elements such as obsidian and jade. The fact that a cave in the Mayan era was deemed sacred and therefore served as a Mayan temple was validated by the altars of worship and pieces of pottery found by adventure tourists. Worship was perhaps individual or communal and although the first sort entailed leaving a part of pottery in certain other part of the cave, the latter required ceremonial pottery for usage with the altar of worship.
Mayans just like other Mesoamerican tribe deemed the caves as being linked to life and death believing that anything emerging from the cave was born into the world and anyone going into the recesses of the cave was departing from the world which means facing death. Hence if you would like take a journey down the memory lane and also live through the lives of our 'cave-dwelling' ancestors, then you should give a Mayan temple a visit.
About the Author:
One of the best ways to learn more about the ancient Mayans, their history, beliefs and culture is by taking Mayan caves tours. Duende Tours is a reliable provider of pre-arranged exciting and interesting customized Mayan adventure tours.
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