Notable cenotes of Chichen Itza

Home to a number of architectural and natural wonders, Chichen Itza in Mexico is one of the New Seven Wonders of the World thanks to its pyramids and the underground limestone natural pools, writes Megha C K

Wall of skulls. PHOTO BY AUTHOR

The history of the ancient land of Mexico always sounded very intriguing and intense to us. Having heard descriptive stories from our circle of friends about the enchanted beauty of Mexico, we finally decided to fly to Mexico after months of winter hibernation.

The best place to understand life in the pre-historic time of the land is to visit the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. Chichen Itza (located in Yucatan Peninsula) is Mexico’s World Heritage Site and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. This massive archaeological site is extensive, covering about 740 acres and the pre-Hispanic city itself has a fascinating history older than 1500 years. Chichen Itza was not only a sacred city of Mayas but also a large hub of regional trade. Chichen Itza fell into ruins with the mysterious decline of the Maya civilisation and the overthrowing of the elite in the 12th century. The best time to visit this North-East part of Mexico is between November and March. After flying into Cancun, one can reach here by taking a car or a guided bus tour. After storming past an army of local vendors, we stopped to watch a local craftsman who sat there under the shadow of a large tree, carving the ancient Maya face on a small piece of wood. Having keenly listened to our local guide passionately talk about the Maya culture and about the land of Mexico for just about an hour, the locals made us feel pretty much at home.

A mesmerising 98-foot tall structure appeared once we emerged out of the canopy after walking for a while from the entrance. This was the Temple of Kukulkan (also called El Castillo) dedicated to the Maya feathered serpent deity Kukulkan, the centerpiece of the Maya city. It was alluring to know that this architectural marvel has four stairways to represent the four points of a compass, 365 steps, one for each in the solar calendar and nine terraces probably symbolising nine stages to heaven according to the Maya belief. On par with its name, the pyramid is built in such a way that during sunset, the play of light and shadow creates an eerie effect of a snake gradually slithering down the staircase.

We could see a number of visitors clapping around the pyramid and the sound distorted and echoed mimicking some kind of bird. Our guide explained that this feature was engineered by the Mayas on purpose to mimic the Quetzal bird which is a spiritually important bird to them. These demonstrations made us realise how skilled Mayas were with mathematics, technology and architecture. We moved on to a large area with tall walls and a few rings mounted at the top of the wall. Our guide explained that it was the Meso-American ball court which was the largest in the Americas. The ball game was called Pok Ta Pok. According to anthropologists, the team members would hurl the ball towards the ring using their knees or elbows and the captain would attempt the shot using a racquet. The most interesting fact about the game was the captain, who made the first successful shot and was decapitated as a sacrifice to the gods. It was considered to be an honour and a direct entrance to heaven. Temple of the Warriors is another significant structure which has 200 columns aligned exactly behind each other. It represents Maya God Tlalchitonatiuh, reliefs of warriors and spiritual animals such as eagles and jaguars devouring human hearts. The Wall of Skulls seemed daunting with a number of sacrificed skulls of deities and also enemies. Chichen Itza, which means at the brim of the well where the wise men of the water live in the Mayan language, might have got its name from the sinkholes around it called cenotes. Cenotes are underground limestone natural pools. There are around 6,000 cenotes in the state of Yucatan. They are of deep spiritual significance to the Mayas. We visited a couple of cenotes and underground crystal caves during our visit to Mexico. They are beautiful, serene and radiate an ethereal aura.

The restoration of the ruins of these beautiful sites has enabled people all over the world to explore the wealth of Maya history. Chichen Itza has turned out to be the most popular and most visited archaeological site in Mexico.

While it can get quite busy and swarmed, this exceptional place with its interesting history should be on every tourist’s itinerary.