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| where the spirit voices are heard |
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Tikal, one of the largest Maya cities, lies in the heart of the Guatemala jungle in the region of Peten, shrouded by a dense broadleaved forests with its temples, the tallest in the new world, protruding high above the 2100foot forest. This un-spoilt natural habitats today is protected by the Tikal National Park.
Though Tikal have been inhabited from the 6th century B.C. its famous temples and public squares were built during what is called the Classic Maya period from A.D. 250 to 900. The chief sights are half a dozen pyramids of gray limestone, carved stele and altars, while other thousands of un-excavated ruins are scattered throughout the tropical rainforest.
A network of causeways called (sacbeob), bearing the names of the early explorers, running for several kilometers, link the various parts of the city. Today large parts of the site have been restored making of Tikal a major tourist attraction.
Tikal |
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From the visitor center we enter the site through the main causeway until we arrived at a conjunction marked by a large map panel. Here we headed left following a minor path through the forest reaching the twin pyramid complex Group Q, one of the nine twin-pyramid complexes present at Tikal. The group consists of two flat-topped pyramids facing each other on an east-west axis. A row of stele and altar pairs is placed immediately to the west of the eastern pyramid. On the south side there is a long corbelled building containing a stele and altar pair.
Scattered on the ground at Tikal there are forty odd carved stelae and thirty stelae - altars pairs, most of which feature royal portraits, these have been used to reconstruct the history of rulers of Tikal.
From Group Q following a muddy path immersed in the forest we reached the Temple IV (8th century) (Double Headed Serpent), the tallest pyramid at Tikal and the largest ever built in the Maya region. It is an easy ascent up a ladder to the summit. From the top, you can see the tips of Temple I and Temple II emerging from the vaste tree canopy.
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Tikal
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The Mundo Perdido (Lost World) is the ancient ritual core of Tikal. The various constructions are arranged around three esplanades. Coming from Temple IV we enter the complex from the West Plaza (Low Plaza). Partially cleared from the vegetation the West Plaza is centered around a low platform (5C53) with on the East the monumental Lost World Pyramid (5C-54) 32 m in height with stairways on each side aligned with cardinal directions and heavily eroded stucco masks on each side; on the North the Templo del Talud-Tablero (5C-49) (4th c AD) the second pyramid in height of the complex, so called due to the particular style of construction influenced by the Teotihuacan style.
Immersed in the shadows of the thick forest the ruins around the North Plaza are not yet cleared from the vegetation, these are palace-style buildings (5C45-46-47) with multiple vaulted chambers of elite residential character.
The East Plaza (High Plaza), the primary space of the Lost World, is defined by the Lost World Pyramid (5C-54) fronted on the East by the so-called East Platform, this architectural arrangement sometimes is denominated Group E type, a functional complex related to rituals and celebrations of an ancient solar cult and to the usual astronomical alignments with solstices, equinoxes, the Milky Way, the Orion constellation; although we must consider that there is a significant deviation to the astronomical East and the fact that observations of the horizon is blocked both to the East and to the West.
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The construction of the Palace of the Five Doors (Palacio de las Cinco Puertas) (5D-87-7) was a later architectural modification to the complex, this single building with five doors on a stepped base was attached to the back of the East Platform of the Lost World creating a new axis with the Plaza of Seven Temples to the East. This modification marks the reorganization if not the abandonment of the ancient solar cult. The Plaza is bordered on the East by a row of nearly identical temples.
From the Plaza of the Seven Temples a short path leads to the Temple V (about AD 700) a mortuary pyramid 57 m high, the second tallest structure at Tikal - only Temple IV is taller.
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Tikal
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Mundo Perdido is linked with the great sacbe to the Great Plaza the new center of power of Tikal. The Lost World with its rituals related to the rural nature of primal settlements, with the commemoration of the passing of time and the agricultural cycles, was definitely abandoned in favor of a more formal structure representing a new political order based on the sacred kingship.
The Great Plaza is flanked on the East and West by two great temple-pyramids (Temple I of the Great Jaguar and Temple II of the Mask). On the North the Plaza is bordered by the North Acropolis, a funerary complex, and on the South by the Central Acropolis (Maler’s Palace on certain maps). The Temple I (Temple of the Great Jaguar) (Temple of the Great Jaguar) (740–750AD) rises 47 m above the Great Plaza it is a funerary pyramid with at the apex a three-room temple with a huge roof comb originally decorated with a giant sculpture of the king, little of this decoration survives. The Temple II (Temple of the Mask) (AD 700) stands 38 m high, it is possible to climb the pyramid with a steep wooden ladder.
Tikal |
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