Ancient Mayan Religion

Mayan history narrates the rich civilization of the Mayans who lived in southern Mexico and northern Central America around 3,000 years ago. It was a colorful and rich culture and it existed way before Mexico and the nearby regions were conquered by Spain. The Mayan civilization is one of the most prominent civilizations of Mesoamerica and it was established around 2600 BC in Yucatan. Southern Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Northern Belize and the western region of Honduras belonged to the Mayan empire during the 3rd century AD.

Ancient Mayan Religion

The Mayan tribes have left behind a history of a grand and awe-inspiring culture full of interesting traditions. The Mayan culture supported a Nature-worshiping religion and the Mayan tribes worshiped Nature gods such as the gods of Rain, Sun and Corn. The Mayans gave great importance to astronomy and astrology. Human sacrifice was a part of the ancient Mayan religious ceremonies.

Mayan temples followed the architectural style of step pyramids. The religious writings of the Mayan culture included hieroglyphs and drawings.

A class of people called "Mayan Priests" performed the rituals of the Mayan temples. The followers of the Mayan religion believed in a relationship between human beings and supernatural beings. Mayan priests carried out human sacrifices. The chief priest held down the victim while another priest cut out his heart. The chief priest was known as "Ah Kin Mai".

Ancient Mayan religion gave importance to agriculture and the timeliness of harvests. The religious calendar of the Mayan culture was called "tzolkin" and it comprised only 260 days and two cycles. These cycles consisted of 20 days' and 30 days' weeks. "Tun", another Mayan calendar, comprised 360 days. "Katun" was a calendar derived from "tun" and the total number of days in this calendar was 20 times that of the "tun" calendar.

As per the beliefs of Mayan religion, agricultural produce was the gift of gods; hence, they paid great attention to the cycles of rain and harvest. The Mayans appeased their gods with the human blood collected from the human sacrifice. During the festival time, the Mayans organized music, dances and prayers to please the Mayan gods.

Mayan pyramids were constructed for religious and burial purposes. There are Mayan temples for the moon and the sun. A few popular temples are Chichen Itza, Temples of Tikal, Temple of Inscription. Mayan cosmology and creation myth reveal a great deal about the beginning of the Mayan civilization, their beliefs and traditions.

The Mayan religion also influenced Mayan architecture. The most dramatic and easily recognizable Maya architectural style is the stepped pyramid with a temple at the top. There are also cave sites like the Jolja, Naj Tunich, Candelaria and Witch that speak volumes about Mayan architecture. Every fifty-two years, the temples and pyramids were remodeled and rebuilt.

The artworks that were the integral part of ancient religion are not only sophisticated but also beautiful. Maya art that survived include funerary pottery, ceramic work and murals. Maya blue, a beautiful turquoise blue color was associated with the Mayan art and has survived over the centuries.