Remnants of the Mayan civilization may offer clues as to what happened to this magnificent race

A cool breeze fluttered across the dry Yucatan landscape promising the respite or a shower very soon. Ahead of me yawned an unending stretch of stones and columns, of shrines and arenas in silent array. A mottle of tourists dotted the sandy flatness below me.

I stood in the vast complex of Chichen Itza in the Yucatan Peninsula — one of the most glorious remnants of an ancient Mayan civilization. In the morning I had left the lovely seaside resort of Cancun and a 2 1/2-hour bus-ride had brought me here. I stood by a vast courtyard with pyramids and monuments silhouetting the sunny landscape of this Mexican peninsula. This complex seemed to be divided into two major areas — the “old Chichen” complex occupied between the 6th and 10th centuries, and “new Chichen” built continuously between the 11th and I3th centuries incorporating starkly contrasting architectural elements. Wide roads called sacbes or ‘the Milky Way’ connected these larger monuments — for the Mayans, astronomy was everything.

As my guide, Ariel explained: “The older Chichen style is influenced by architecture of the older Puuc Mayans, whereas the newer Chichen Itza has monuments that depict bravery, aggression and human sacrifice, possibly owing to the incursion of the Itza tribe in this region, who brought in the Toltec influences from central Mexico.”

The Pyramid called El Castillo — the Castle, as the Spanish knew it — is probably the most striking feature of this ‘newer’ complex. Towering at 79 feet the pyramid has four sides, with a platform atop. Two of these sides have been renovated, while the remaining two stood in their ruin over the centuries. Each of the four sides have 91 steps and the platform atop makes it the 365th, each step marking a day in the year. Stairways divide the nine terraces on each side of the pyramid into eighteen segments, representing the eighteen months of the Mayan calendar. Was this an ancient observatory of some sorts? No one really knows. Every year, on the 21st of March and September, on the day of the equinoxes, the sunbeams strike the northern wall streaking down to a stone head of the ‘Feathered Snake God’ at the base, thereby creating an illusion of a snake slithering down the steps towards the sacred cenote. Thousands gather to watch this spectacular phenomenon of the pyramids.

The pyramid was a tough ascent, though the way my six-year old clambered up, made it look real easy. The sheer incline made it quite a heart stopping experience, the ascent as well as the descent.

A small stony entrance followed by a claustrophobic climb took us to an inner pyramid. Atop a stone platform stood a jaguar throne painted red with inlays of jade and conch. This may have been an altar of yore. A Chac Mool looked on in silent repose. A recumbent figure holding a plate, Chac Mool accepted the sacrifice on behalf of the gods. Mayans, it is believed, used to offer corn and flowers. It was much later that blood and human sacrifices were introduced.

We were soon in the vast courtyard. This place was an acoustic wonder. “Hear this,” the guide clapped his hands, facing the pyramid — unbelievably the clap echoed back as seven shrieks from the rare quetzal bird. “Hear this again,” the guide exclaimed, now facing the Temple of Warriors. This time, it seemed as though a quetzal shrieked from within that shrine. However, the sound seemed to wander immediately enough to the pyramid and I could hear those same birdlike shrieks from the Pyramid this time.

Past the Temple of Venus we came across a strikingly scary parapet with skull figurines carved all upon it. Under the Temple of the Skulls or the Tzompantli as the Mayans called it, remains of the priests buried over the years were found. There are also representations of eagles and warriors carrying human heads in their hands.

The Temple of the Warriors is a noteworthy monument consisting of hundreds of carved pillars. In ancient days this could have been a bustling marketplace with a shrine atop. Depictions of warriors probably from a different race adorn the columns — were the Mayans really aware of the diversity of the human race?

At a short distance is probably one of the most majestic stadiums of the region. This Ball Court measures 272 by 199 feet, about the dimensions of a football field. The Mayans played a deadly game of Pok-ta-Pok whose object was to drive a 12-pound rubber ball through a stony hoop hoisted high upon each sidewall of the court. The players could only use their hips, head, feet, knees and elbows, not their hands. There were seven players on each team and the game would go on for days and weeks, rain or shine. The victorious one was eventually sacrificed to the Gods by his opponent — as an honourable entry into Paradise. A carving depicts the opponent watching a bloody stream of seven serpents from the honoured winner’s severed neck, which would soon probably be spiked upon the Tzompantli.

I walked several quaint structures all around me. Ahead loomed the pyramidal Tomb of the High Priest where curious archaeologists discovered an underground passage that ran all the way to the Pyramid Complex of Yaxuna, about 20 miles away! However, El Caracol, the Observatory of the times was a fascinating place. The structure gets the name from the word ‘snail’ going by the intricate spiral steps within the massive stone turret that led up to a platform with slots facing the skies.

Numerous other structures dot an adjacent complex. The Spanish gave these buildings names based on what they thought these represented, which is really very far from the truth. The Church has several ancient inscriptions and carvings depicting the God of Rain. Above the lintel is a depiction of the four bacabs — the crab, armadillo, snail and tortoise who held up the heavens. Other structures mottled the complex.

The Red House or the Chichanchob, named after its red frescos upon the walls and ceilings was an ancient shrine which seemed less weathered than the rest of the monuments. The Deer House was named after a lintel carved with a romping deer that existed above the doorway, now almost a heap of rubble.

A short walk from here led us to the Cenote Sagrado — that sacred cenote of the Mayas. Covered by moss and algae, it was probably 60 feet deep and was used for religious and ceremonial purposes. The Mayans considered the cenote’s waters to be the abode of the rain god to which they dedicated sacrifices and offerings.

“Cenotes,” Ariel explained, “were sinkholes connecting some underground well or river that was used typically as sources of water or for a ceremonial purpose.” It was surely here that the Mayans used to routinely drown a sacrificial victim, offering votive oblations of copper, gold and jade with other human remains. Apparently a curious American who must have known its significance once purchased this cenote and dredged it, bringing up several ancient artifacts that were stored in the Peabody Museum in Boston till recently.

“The lives of the Mayans — just like these huge structures are shrouded in mystery,” my guide raised his voice in the fluting winds. A peaceful agricultural community, these people had a precise calendar, a written hieroglyphic language, plotted the movements of the planets, and mastered pottery and weaving. While their culture flourished between 600 and 800, external influences seemed to have transformed tranquillity into wars and human sacrifice. Around AD900, and beyond, the Mayan civilization saw a period of decadence and social upheaval, revealing itself in changes to architecture and lifestyles. Of course, when the Spanish arrived in Mexico in 1517, they completely throttled a non-Christian culture and worse still, destroyed thousands of manuscripts replete with lore and knowledge of those times.

It was late afternoon as the sunbeams licked the walls of El Castillo dotted with men and women trying to climb the massive walls. It seemed strange that I stood here, more than a thousand years forward in time, looking at the same lintels that those priests of yore would have revered. It was odd that I walked along those very stony paths that the sacrificial victims would have trudged along their way to eternal happiness!

For all the theory surrounding origins and civilizations, no one really knows what happened to that great Mayan civilization and their esoteric culture. Why did they build this powerful poetry in stone and why was a glorious city abandoned? Why would a tranquil scientific community embark upon a path of sacrifice and bellicose aggression?

Only that slithering serpent god would probably know.